LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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NEW 

SCHOOL HISTORY 



UNITED STATES 



GEORGE F. HOLMES, LLD. 

FKOFICSSOK OF IflSTUKV AND LITEKATUKR IN TilU. UNI VKKSITY f)K YIKCIINIA 



" Wc do not pretciul to pass any judgment on the merits 
of the several sides. * * * We relate opinions 

as well as facts, historically." — Bukku 




NEW YORK 
UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1886 



Copyright, 

1S70, iSS-, 1SS5. 

By university PUBLISHING COMPANY 



=**S3iJ. 



\^^ 



Hi- 



PREFACE 



Eleven years and more have elapsed since the first publication 
of this text-book. This period has witnessed a series of ^rave 
transactions, and a surprisinj^ increase of the population, produc- 
tions, and wealth of the country. It seemed indispensable to extend 
the narrative to the completion of the century since the surrender 
of the British at Yorktown assured American Independence. 

To do this, it was necessary to contract the story throughout, so 
that the volume might be kept within suitable limits. Matters of 
secondary importance have been omitted, and greater brevity of 
statement has been introduced where practicable, particularly in 
the earlier periods and the War of Secession. There is no longer 
necessity or propriety in treating the late mournful struggle with 
the same fulness as before. Moreover, the wondrous perspective 
of time has already diminished the prominence of many events, and 
has suffered minor details to melt into the haze of the receding 
landscape. 

Advantage has been taken of the necessity for abridgment, to 
remodel the narrative in many ways, so as to adapt it more 
thoroughly to its purpose, without adding to its size. It has thus 
been rendered virtually a new work, while retaining much of its 
former appearance. The changes of disposition will be at once 
apparent, and will, it is hoped, be approved. Other changes have 
been made. The paragraphs have been shortened, the structure of 
the sentences simplified, the expression adapted to the ready com- 
prehension of young pupils. The multiplication of dates and their 
introduction into the text, however needful for accurate knowledge, 
are apt to confuse the reader. Only the most important dates have 
been retained, and they have been transferred to the margin. 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

Pronunciations of the more difficult proper names are given in 
parentheses, as most convenient for the pupil. The questions for 
recitation and for review (in the former volume) have been omitted. 
Hea\y-taced paragraph headings and numerous short catch lines 
readily suggest the subjects for recitation ; and the Summary of 
Topics which follows each Part will be found practically serviceable 
in study, recitation, and review. 

Synchronal Charts of the chief periods are substituted for the full 
Chronological Tables formerly given. The number of maps has 
been increased, and maps illustrating the War of 1812. the War of 
Secession, and Territorial Growth have been introduced. 

Numerous foot-notes have been added. They do not belong to 
the History, but they quicken its appreciation, and they heighten 
its interest, by supplying explanations, personal details, and various 
anecdotes. 

Thanks are due and are tendered to the many correspondents 
who have pointed out errors, or made valuable suggestions. Such 
communications have been received with respect, and weighed with 
care. It is gratifying to know, after more than ten years' experience, 
that so few errors have been discovered, and that no charge of 
partiality or prejudice, of sectional or political discoloration, has 
been brought from any quarter. The purpose expressed in the 
Preface to the original work has been faithfully pursued : 

" A just and impartial text-book was required ; and this is an 
endeavor to supply one not consciously partisan or sectional. It 
may not be free from errors or blemishes, but it observes the pre- 
cept, ' Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.'" 



CONTK NTS 



PART I. — Introduction. page 

The New World and its Native Inhabitants 7 

The I )iscovery of America 15 

Spanish Colonization 20 

French Ex[)loration and Settlement 22 

Dutch and Swedish Settlement 24 

Summary of Topics — Part 1 27 

PART II.— The English Colonies. 

First English Attempts at Colonization 28 

The Virginia Colony 3^ 

The New England Colonies 41 

The Maryland Colony 51 

Virginia from 1660 to 1750 53 

The New England Colonies after the Restoration 58 

New York 63 

New Jersey and Delaware 65 

Settlement of Pennsylvania 66 

North and South Carolina 68 

Georgia 71 

The (ireat French and Indian War 74 

Condition of the English Colonies before the Revolution 81 

Summary of 'Popics — Part II 88 

PART III. — The Revolutionary Period. 

The Approach of Revolution 92 

The Revolution. — First Year 104 

Second Year of the Revolution no 

Third Year of the Revolution 119 

Fourth Year of the Revolution 128 

Fifth Year of the Revolution 134 

Sixth Year of the Revolution 139 

Seventh Year of the Revolution 148 

The Establishment of the United States 156 

Summary of Topics — Part III 161 

PART. IV.— The Republic Established. 

Washington's Administration 163 

Administration of John Adams 168 

Administration of Thomas Jefferson 171 

Administration of James Madison I77 

The War of 1812 with Great Britain 178 

First Administration of James Monroe 191 

Summary of Tojjics — Part IV I95 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

PART V. — Progress of the Republic. 

Monroe's Second Administration 197 

Administration of John Quincy Adams 198 

Administration of Andrew Jackson 199 

Administration of Martin Van Buren 203 

Administration of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler 204 

Administration of James K. Polk. — The Mexican War 208 

Administration of Zachary Taylor 215 

Administration of Millard Fillmore 2i6 

Administration of Franklin Pierce 217 

Administration of James Buchanan 220 

Summary of Topics — Part V 227 

PART VI. — War of Secession. — Reconstruction and Growth, 

Administration of Abraham Lincoln. — First Year of the War 229 

Second Year of the War 236 

Third Year of the War 243 

Fourth Year of the War 249 

Close of Lincoln's Administration. — End of the War 257 

Reconstruction. — Administration of Andrew Johnson 263 

Administration of General Grant 268 

Second Term of Grant's Administration 274 

Administration of Rutherford B. Hayes 280 

Administration of James A. Garfield 286 

A Century of Independence 288 

Administration of Chester A. Arthur 297 

Summary of Topics — Part VI 304 

The Declaration of Independence 310 

The Constitution of the United States of America 314 



LIST OF MAPS. 

AT PAGE 

I. Discoveries, Explorations, and Ethnographic Map of the Indian 

Tribes of the United States a.d. 1600 14 

II. French Claims in 1750, and the United States at the close of 

the Revolution 92 

IIL War of 1812 178 

IV. The United States in 1820 194 

V. The War o^ Secession 229 

VI. The United States in 1880 286 

VII. Territorial Growth of the United States 289 



LIST OF CHARTS, Etc. 

I. Synchronal Chart of American Discovery and Colonization .... 27 

II. Synchronal Chart of the American Revolution 157 

IIL Synchronal Chart of the War of 1812 189 

IV. Synchronal Chart of the War of Secession. 257 

V. Settlement and Admission of the States 308 

VI. The Territories of the United States 3^9 

VII. Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the United States 309 



History of the United States, 



PART I.— INTRODUCTORY. 



THE NEW WORLD. 




I. The United States 

is now one of the great- 
est nations of the world. 
In size and in popula- 
tion it is fourth on the roll of 
nations. It covers three millions 
and a half of square miles, and 
numbers over fifty millions of 
inhabitants. It stretches across the continent of North Amer- 
ica, and occupies the middle and most favored regions. By 
the purchase of Alaska from Russia its frontier was carried 
to Behring's Strait and the Arctic Sea. The extent of the 



ync TiHSTyf\p?KO^c^ 



8 HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES, 

territory ; the fertility of the soil ; the variety and abundance 
of the productions ; the number, freedom, and industry of 
the people, have rendered its inhabitants rich and powerful.* 
" There are none to make them afraid." 

This vast domain has been won and occupied only 
by degrees. The process of settlement is still going on. 
The chief advancement has been made in little more than a 
hundred years. The youth of the United States should 
learn how their country has been acquired ; and by what 
means it has grown great, and populous, and thriving. The 
story will be told in The History of the United States. 

2. The Western Hemisphere, or New World, which 
includes North and South America, was for thousands of years 
unknown to the nations of the Old World. Ages had passed 
away before it was clearly found out that another half of the 
globe lay beyond the Atlantic. Less than four hundred years 
have elapsed since the existence of America was revealed to 
the people of Europe. 

THE NATIVE INHABITANTS OF THE NE>Ar WORLD. 

3. Native Tribes, called Indians,! had been, during the 
previous centuries, in possession of America. Their origin 
has not been ascertained. Some of their legends, and other 
indications, point to North-eastern Asia as the region whence 
they came. Yet this is only conjecture. Their earliest civiliza- 
tion has been referred to Egypt, to the Lost Tribes of the Jews, 
and to Phoenician traders. They have been supposed to be 
descendants of the people of Atlantis, a large island in the 
ocean spoken of by Plato. Strange stories have been received 
among themselves : that they swarmed up, like locusts, from 



* The term " United States " may be correctly used either as a singular or as a 
plural noun. When it designates the country, or the territory, it is appropriately 
treated as a compound designation, and as singular. When it applies to the political 
system, as a federation of States, it is better to use it as a plural, and it is so employed 
in the strict language of diplomacy, as in Art. IX. of the Treaty of Ghent. 

+ It was supposed that India had been reached when the New World was dis- 
covered. 



NATIVE INHABITANTS. p 

the ground ; that they came out of a ?iole ; that they crawled 
up by the roots of a grape-vine ; that they fell from the moon. 
All is dark and uncertain. 

4. Most of these tribes were rude savages when first 
visited by Europeans. But in Mexico, Central America, and 
Peru a remarkable degree of civilization had been reached.. 
There the native population had regular government, orderly 
society and law, vast temples, great roads, the habit of culti- 
vating the soil, and various arts of usefulness or luxury. 

5. Traces of early and half-civilized races are scattered 
over the continent, and especially in the valleys of the Missis- 
sippi and its tributary streams. These monuments are of va- 
rious kinds : pyramids, altars, temples, fortifications, mounds, 
tombs, earth figures of animals, crosses and crescents, furrowed 




GRAVE CREEK MOUND, WEST VIRGINIA.' 



land, pottery, implements of stone and of copper, and rude 
sculptures. The "great serpent " on the Miami is 1,000 feet 
long, and is raised five feet above the level of the ground. It 
cannot be ascertained when these " Mound Builders " occu- 



* This mound is 70 feet in height by 900 feet in circumference. Excavations and 
explorations have been made, disclosing vaults, human skeletons, and ornaments. 

I* 



lO 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



pied the country. It is equally unknown whence they derived 
their arts. They must have existed at a very remote period, 
as old forests have grown over the buried remains. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

6. The Indians, within the original limits of the United 
States, were all savages, but savage in different degrees. They 
surrounded with constant dangers the new-comers who crossed 
the Atlantic to seize upon their lands. They engaged in fre- 
quent and bloody wars with them. In peace there was always 
reason to fear stealthy attack and midnight murder. 

7. The complexion of the Indians is usually reddish- 
brown or copper-colored. Hence they have been called Red 

^7$; \^^ Men. They are of 

moderate height, 
straight and active. 
Their features are 
generally regular. 
Their cheek - bones 
are high, like those of 
the Tartars. Their 
hair is long, coarse, 
and black. They 
have little beard, or 
none at all. They 
are capable of much 
exertion, and of great 
endurance, without 
being able to undergo 
the fatigue of steady 
labor. 

8. The senses of 
the Indian are 
keen, and are sharpened by the habit of their lives. Their 
observation of outward things is quick and accurate. They 




INDI\.NS AND WIGWAM. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



II 



discern signs on the grass and in the woods which escape the 
notice of more cultivated races. They are daring and self- 
possessed ; treacherous, vindictive, and cruel. They are stern 
and dignified in bearing, and are always cautious and reserved 
before strangers. 

9. They had no houses and no regular occupation. 

They dwelt in huts made 
of branches of trees, or 
in tents covered with 
bark, or with the skins of 
wild animals. These they 
set up where grass and 
water, game or fish, invit- 
ed them to bide for a 
time. They removed to 
other, and often distant 
places, whenever the 
failure of provisions, or 
other motives rendered a 
change of abode desir- 
able. They got their 
main support by hunting 
and fishing. They cul- ^^^^J 
tivated only small patches ^.r^p 
of ground, on which they 
raised Indian - corn, or 
maize, melons of various 
kinds, tobacco, and a few 
other plants, for food or ^ 
for indulgence. They 
were a rude, a lazy, and _-^- 
a roving people, scarcely %^^^^ 
thinking of the morrow, 
and seldom providing 
sufficient maintenance for the winter or even for the next day 




AN INDIAN CIIIEK. 



12 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

10. War was the Indian's joy. He fought for his 
hunting grounds ; he fought for revenge ; he fought for glory. 
He fought for the admiration of his tribe and of his women. 
He fought for the sake of fighting, and to become expert in 
the use of his arms. He decked himself for battle, with paint 
and feathers and other ornaments. His weapons were spear 
and bow, and tomahawk and scalping-knife. He was blood- 
thirsty, and full of trick and cunning. He tore the scalp 
from his wounded or slaughtered foe, to hang it as a trophy in 
his wigwam or hut. He put his prisoners to death with slow 
and varied tortures. He danced round them and reviled them 
in their agony, while they sang their death-song and chanted 
their own praises in the midst of their sufferings. 

11. Hunting was his chief employment. By this he 
procured his sustenance, his clothing, his ornaments, and the 
covering for his wig^vam and his bed. Buffalo and other ani- 
mals furnished him with food and dress, and shelter and 
warmth. He had neither flocks nor herds ; neither horse nor 
cow. He had no tame animal but his dog. He had no plough, 
no harrow, no spade, no cart. He had few tools or utensils. 
What he had were of stone, or earthenware, or wood. If his 
boat was made out of a log, not of bark or hides, he hollowed 
it out with a flint axe and with fire. He was ignorant of the 
use of iron, and tipped his arrows with stone flakes. He had 
some knowledge of copper, which had been employed by the 
Mound Builders. 

His arms were axe and spear, and shield and bow, 
But naught of iron did he seem to know ; 
For all his cutting tools were edged with flint, 
Or with soft copper, that soon turned and bent. 

12. The women performed the harsh labors of daily 
life. They were bought as brides, and sold as daughters. They 
carried home the game, skinned it, and cut it up. They dressed 
the skins. They gathered the fuel, made the fire, and cooked 
the meat. They planted and hoed the ground, and harvested 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



13 



the crop. On the journeys they were bur- 
dened with the babies, the cooking pots, and 
the tents. They did all the drudgery of 
the camp, and experienced constant neglect. 
Little attention was paid to the children 
after their infancy. They were only taught 
to imitate in play the serious actions of their 
parents. 

13. The Indians had little religion 
and less government. They sacrificed 
to the Powers of Evil, and had only a dim 
notion of a good and supreme God. They 
had some superstitious rites and ceremonies 
and charms. They expected, after death, 
to join their ancestors in " The Happy 
Land," and to renew beyond the grave the 
warfare and the chase which had occupied 
them on earth. To fit them for the long 
and lonely journey, their bow, their quiver, 
their tomahawk, their bowl and pipe, with 
corn, venison, and tobacco, were entombed 
with them. The life of the other world 
was deemed a continuation of the life in 
this. They had no political constitution. 
They were bound together in families and 
tribes by a supposed relationship of blood. 
They knew no law, and were restrained by 
a few customs. They had no courts, no 
judges, no rulers. The Chief, the Sachem,* 
and the Medicine Man, were the only au- 
thorities. Obedience was not enforced. It 
was yielded purely of free-will. 

14. Letters and the art of writing 
were entirely unknown. Symbols and 




^ 



INDIAN BOW, ARROW, 
ETC. 



* All leaders in war were called chiefs, and were elected. The Sachem was a 



14 



HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



signs, and strings of shells,* and rough paintings on rocks 
or skins, were employed, to some extent, as means of com- 
munication or commemoration. The Cherokee, Sequoy'ah, 
called also George Guess, was the first to invent, about sixty 
years ago, signs for his people's language. The Indians, how- 
ever, possess a Gesture Language, by which different tribes are 
enabled to hold intercourse with each other. 

15. Four great stocks, or families, embrace nearly all 
the Indians that were found east of the Mississippi, These 
are the Algon'quin, the Ir'oquois, the Appal'achee, and the 
Cher'okee. The Chico'ras, the Catawbas, the Yem'assees, the 
Uchees', and the Natchez, are not included in the four stocks. 
West of the Mississippi were the Daco'tahs, the Shoshonees', 
the Ap'aches, the Coman'ches, and the numerous indistinct 
tribes of the Rocky Mountains and of the Pacific slope. Of 
the Eastern Indians, the Iroquois had advanced furthest in 
social order and the arts of life. They formed a regular con- 
federation, named, first, the Five, and afterwards, the Six 
Nations. 

16. The Indians are supposed to be all of one race,f 
with the single exception of the Esquimaux. Great differences 
of appearance, of disposition, of culture, and of language 
separate the several groups. The hair is always of the same 
peculiar character, and a like structure prevails through the 
numerous languages and dialects. 

17. The first English settlers came in contact with 
various branches of the Algonquin stock along the Atlantic 
coast.J The descendants of these settlers now cover the 
continent from the eastern to the western ocean. Their native 
antagonists have disappeared like dew from the prairie, and 



permanent chief of the tribe. His office was usually hereditary ; but he might be 
Bet aside. 

* Sea wan, or Wampum, is the name of such strings. 

t This has been questioned in recent years. 

X Powhatans', Delawares, Manhattans, Mohicans, Pequods, Narragansetts, etc. 




Engraved fur TlJints' Jlittorj/ of the United States 



DISCO VER Y OF A M ERICA . 1 5 

have dwindled away to less than half a million in the whole 
wide territory of the United States.* 



THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 

18. Early visits to America are reported in numerous 
traditions. They are, for the most part, wild dreams. Plato's 
fable of Atlantis has been already mentioned. Other fables 
are equally vain. The expedition of the Welsh prince, Madoc, 
in the latter half of the twelfth century, is as visionary as the 
story of St. Brandan's Isle.f More respect may, perhaps, be 
paid to the statement that Buddhists, from Central Asia, visited 
America in the fifth century. The tale of Icelandic and Nor- 
wegian explorations and settlements on the coasts of Greenland 
and the shores of New England, in the tenth and eleventh 
centuries,! is better founded. They did not come to the 
knowledge of the rest of Europe. The history of America 
begins only in the last years of the fifteenth century. 

19 The beautiful city of Genoa fronts the northern 
shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It is sheltered from bleak 
winds by the chain of the Apennines. Its commerce, its 
wealth, and its power obtained for it the designation of Genoa 
the Proud. The epithet was justified by the splendor of its 
palaces and by the daring of its citizens. Much of its great- 
ness had been lost in the middle of the fifteenth century. Yet 



* The number reported to the Commissioners of Indian Affairs in 1881 was 246417, 
exclusive of Alaska. 

t St. Brandan's Isle was that appearance of clouds or haze on the horizon, re- 
sembling land, which is now familiar to seamen as Cape Fly-Away. It often de- 
ceived the navigators of the Atlantic, who mistook it for a new country in the West, 
which they pursued, but could not reach, as it retained its distance or vanished from 
them. 

X These Scandinavian discoveries are now extensively believed. It has been sup- 
posed that the communication with Greenland was interrupted by a great change of 
climate and by vast icebergs, about 1350. 



i6 



HIS TOR V OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



it Still had many vessels at sea. It still traded with the East 
and with the West. It still waged war with the Sultans of 
Constantinople, with the Caliphs of Egypt, and with the pirates 
who plundered the shores of Italy, and captured Christians 
to sell them as slaves to the Turks, 

20o In this city a boy was born, about the year 1440, 




COLUMBUS. 

who lived to do greater things than had ever been achieved in 
his native State in the days of its highest renown.* He was 
named Christopher Columbus. He was brought up in 

* The Genoese are credited with an early attempt to discover land beyond ihe 
Atlantic ; but the authority for the statement is not given. 

" The Genoese * * made an effort in the year 1291 to obtain that discovery of a new 
world westward which their countr>'man Columbus effected two centuries later. * * 
They sent out two galleys for this important purpose, under Theodosius Doria and 
Ugolin Vivaldo, who were directed to sail far westward, without the Straits of Gib. 
raltar. in quest of new countries ; but they were never heard of more." 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, 17 

poverty ; in the midst of political strife and change and ad- 
venture. While very young he became a sailor, and was en- 
gaged in the naval warfare with the corsairs of Barbary, and 
with the Ottoman Turks, who had recently conquered Con- 
stantinople, and subdued the last remnant of the old Empire 
of Rome. 

21. In one of his voyages Columbus w^as wrecked off the 
southern coast of Portugal. He saved his life by swimming, 
and reached Lisbon, the capital of the kingdom, where his 
brother was employed as a maker of maps and dealer in charts. 
A great demand for these had sprung up in consequence of the 
geographical discoveries and exploring voyages of the Portu- 
guese. Christopher Columbus joined his brother in his occu- 
pations, and devoted himself to the study of geographical ex 
plorations, especially of those connected with the Atlantic 
Ocean. 

22. Columbus became convinced that India and the 
eastern shores of Asia could be most readily reached 
by sailing West across the Atlantic. He applied to 
different States and sovereigns for the means of undertaking 
such a voyage, and thus determining the truth of his conclu- 
sions. He wrote, he travelled, he sent messengers to entreat 
public support for his enterprise, as he was too poor to make 
the experiment without aid. He is said to have first applied 
to the city of his birth ; he applied to the King of Portugal ; 
he applied to the sovereigns of Aragon and Castile, but was 
treated with ridicule. He sent his brother to England to seek 
the assistance of Henry VH. His brother was captured on 
his way by pirates. Columbus was leaving the Spanish court 
to beg help from the King of France, when he was recalled 
by Queen Isabella of Castile, who promised to assist and be- 
friend him. She and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon, had 
just completed the conquest of the last Moorish kingdom in 
Spain. 

23. The favor of the Queen led others to promote 



1 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the undertaking. She gave less than ten thousand dollars 
to the great enterprise, but this small sum secured the experi- 
ment.* A few friends and hopeful adventurers suppHed the 
further means requisite for fitting out a small expedition to at- 
tempt the passage of the Atlantic and a western voyage to the 
coast of Asia. 

Three small vessels, scarcely larger than modern pilot-boats, f 
were made ready at Palos, a small port in the south-east of 
Spain. With these Columbus set out, in August, 1492. Week 
after week passed drearily by. Calms delayed progress. Winds 
came from the wrong quarter, and drove the ships out of their 
course. No land appeared. The hearts of the sailors sank 
within them. They feared that they would never return to 
their homes — would never see any shore again ; but would drift 
on the measureless waters till their provisions were consumed, 
or would go down in the midst of the ocean and be heard of 
no more. Columbus with difficulty persuaded them to con- 
tinue the voyage. Soon his persuasions lost their power. 

24. Columbus noticed green branches floating on the 
waters, and land birds flying about. He hoped that a few 
days might bring him in sight of some shore. Before the 
appointed time had expired, a distant light was seen ; next 
morning land was discovered. The weary voyagers landed 
on the 1 2th of October, on an island named Guanahani {gwah- 
nah-haJinee). It is a small island among the Bahamas. 

Possession of the new country was solemnly taken in 
the name of the Queen of Castile. Columbus received pres- 
ents of gold from the natives, and sailed in search of the re- 
gions whence the gold came. He discovered Cuba, which he 
took to be Japan, and St. Domingo, named by him Hispaniola 



* The actual amount contributed by the Queen, or, according to the official entry, 
only lent, is variously stated by different authors. By some it is put as high as 
$17,000 or $18,000 ; by others, as low as $3,500- Its value in present purchasing power 
has been estimated at as much as $50,000. 

t The Santa Maria {mah-ree'ak), of about one hundred tons burden, the Pinta 
{peen'tah) and Mina {mee'nak)^ both smaller. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, 



19 



(Little Spain), where he built a fort. He then returned to 
Spain. He was welcomed by the King and Queen with high 
honors. He was appointed Admiral and Governor-General of 
the countries which he had discovered, or might afterwards 
discover. 

25. Columbus made three other voyages with the 
hope of reaching the main land of Asia. He thought Cuba, 
St. Domingo, and the islands around them belonged to that 
continent. Hence they were called the West Indies, and the 
native inhabitants were named Indians. 

From his second ex- 
pedition Columbus 
was recalled by cal- 
umnies at home occa- 
sioned by disturbances 
in the colony. 

On the third voy- 
age he discovered the 
mainland of South' 
America and the 
mouth of the great 
river Orinoco. 

On the fourth voy- 
age he coasted along 
the shores of the Gulf 
of Mexico, still seek- 
ing a passage to the 
spice regions of Asia. He suffered many hardships and indig- 
nities, and came back to Spain, after an absence of more than 
two years, broken in health, in spirit, and in fortune. He 
soon died, without obtaining redress.* His remains are said 
to be buried in the Cathedral of Havana. 




AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 



* In 1500, Columbus had been sent home in chains. When the captain of the vessel 
conveying him wished to remove them, he replied : " I will wear them as a memento 
of the gratitude of princes." 



20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

26. The Continent of North America was discov- 
ered by the Cabots, sailing under the English flag, a year 
before South America was reached by Columbus. In 1499, 
Amerigo Vespucci {ves-poot'chee), a Florentine, voyaging in 
company with Ojeda {o-hdtha), coasted along the Southern 
Continent. From him America received its name. 



SPANISH COLONIZATION. 

27. The gold brought home by Columbus, and the 
larger quantities afterwards sent to Spain by Spanish explorers, 
excited the greed and quickened the spirit of adven- 
ture among the Spanish people. Multitudes followed the 
course of the setting sun, in the hope of sudden wealth. New 
islands and new tracts of the continent were discovered. The 
natives were made to work in the mines, where they perished 
under the hard tasks and severe labor imposed upon them by un- 
merciful masters. A benevolent priest, Las Casas, desirous of 
saving them from destruction, recommended the employment 
of captured Africans in their stead. This was the beginning 
of negro slavery and of the slave-trade in America. 

28. The discovery of North America by Sebastian 
Cabot led to no immediate result, for all lands discovered in 
the West had been granted to Spain by the Pope.* 

Brazil was acquired accidentally by Portugal, notwithstand- 
ing this grant. 

In half a century the Spanish dominions embraced the 
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, the islands of the Caribbean 
Sea, the lower valley of the Mississippi, the great Empire of 
Mexico, and the extensive tract, rich in gold and silver and 



* A bull had been issued in favor of Portugal, by Pope Nicholas V.^ in January, 
1434. The grant was designed to cover all discoveries along the coast of Africa. Sim- 
ilar grants had been made to that crown twice before by Martin V. The bull to Spain 
was given by Alexander VI., in May, 1493, and conceded to it " the new world dis- 
covered by Columbus." 



SPANISH COLONIZATION. 21 

Other wealth, between the Andes and the Pacific. The islands 
of Cuba and Porto Rico alone remain now in the possession 
of Spain. 

29. Great energy, daring, endurance, and skill were 
shown in gaining these vast territories. The cruelty, brutality, 
and greed of the adventurers surpassed even their courage. 
The story of the conquest is full of surprising events, and is 
as wonderful as the wonders of romance. 

Balboa, an outlaw, was the first European who saw the great 
South Sea, or Pacific Ocean. 

Fernando Cortez overthrew the Empire of Mexico, and 
took possession of its wide and rich domains. 

Francisco Pizarro dethroned the Incas, or native monarchs, 
of Peru, and conquered the regions subject to their sceptre. 

Ponce de Leon {pdnthd-dd-laon) sought in Florida the 
Fountain of Youth, to relieve him from old age.* 

Ferdinand de Soto advanced from the shores of Florida, 
through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, fighting his way 
with disastrous loss through successive Indian tribes. He 
discovered and crossed the mighty river Mississippi, and was 
buried beneath its waters. 

Coronado started from the City of Mexico to discover the 
Seven Golden Cities of Quivara {kee-vah'rah), which he never 
found. He reached the Canadian and Red Rivers, which 
flowed into the Mississippi. He heard of the Great River, 
but never saw it. He recrossed the Rocky Mountains, and 
returned to Mexico. 

30. The value of these large possessions was greatly en- 
hanced by the discovery of rich and apparently exhaust- 
less mines of gold and silver in Mexico and Peru. The 
treasure derived from them was so abundant that industry and 
trade of all kinds were greatly increased in the countries oi 
the Old World, and the value of the precious metals was 



* The lepfcnd of the " Fountain of Youth" has been associated with the Wakulla 
Spring, i6 miles from Tallahassee. 



22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

much reduced. These mines continued to supply, for more 
than three hundred years, the main part of the gold and silver 
used for business or for ornament. Their productiveness has 
only been surpassed by the recent mines of the Rocky Moun- 
tains and of Australasia. 



FRENCH EXPLORATION AND SETTLE- 
MENT. 

31. The Spaniards had secured their conquests before any 
other nation had gained a foothold in America, except the 
Portuguese in Brazil. John Verazzani (-zaiifiee) a Floren- 
tine, sent out by Francis I., of France, had explored, in a single 

vessel, the' coast of North Carolina and the mouth of 
the Chesapeake Bay. He had sailed along the shores 
of New England and Nova Scotia. 

32. Ten years later, while Cortez was ruling Mexico and 
Pizarro overrunning Peru, Jacques Cartier {zhak cart'y'a) 
started from the French harbor of St. Malo's, sailed to New- 
foundland, and ascended the broad river of Canada. On a 
second voyage, next year, he reached the great basin between 
Newfoundland and New Brunswick on the day of St. Law- 
rence, and gave the name of that saint to both the Gulf and 
the noble stream which pours into it the waters of the great 
lakes in the interior of the continent. He passed up the St. 
Lawrence River nearly 500 miles, to the Isle of Orleans 
(Hochelaque), below the heights of Quebec, and took posses- 
sion of the country for the crown of France. 

33. At the opening of the French War of Religion, Admiral 
, Coligny {co-leen'ye)^ the great and good leader of the 

Huguenots, sought a safe retreat in America for his 
fellow-Protestants. John Ribault (re-bo) was put in com- 
mand of the emigrants. He settled a colony on Port Royal 
harbor, and called it Fort Charles, or Carolina, after Charles 



FRENCH SETTLEMENT, 



23 



IX., the reigning king. The post was abandoned on Ribault's 
return to France soon after. 

34. A second attempt was made. Laudonni^re {lo- 
don-ydre) carried the exiles in three ships, and built a second 
Fort Carolina at the mouth of the River of May — the St. John's 
—in Florida. The settlers became discontented, and longed to 




THE OLD GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. 

return home. Ribault arrived with fresh colonists, bringing 
their families, farm implements, and stock. Fort Carolina was 
within the dominions claimed by Spain. 

Philip II. had granted a commission to Melendez de 

^5^5- Avila (ind-len deth da av'e-lah) to settle and 

Aug'. govern Florida. Reaching the coast on the day 

of St. Augustine, he gave that name to the fine harbor and the 

river which he discovered, and to the town which he built there. 



24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

This is now the oldest town in the United States. About 
three weeks after his arrival, he surprised P ort Carolina in the 
absence of Ribault, and massacred all who fell into his hands — 
" not as Frenchmen, but as Huguenots." 

35. This butchery was soon avenged. Dominic de 

Gourgues {goorg), a Gascon gentleman, fitted out 
^5^o* three ships, sailed to Florida, recaptured the fort, 
and hanged his prisoners. He placed over them the inscrip- 
tion : '' Not as Spaniards, but as traitors, robbers, and murder- 
ers.'' The Civil Wars in France prevented the restoration of 
the French colony, and the prosecution of French adventure. 

36. When the wars were over, Henry IV. renewed the 
effort to secure French settlements in America. The first 
attempts failed. At length Samuel Champlain was sent by 

the merchants of Rouen to establish a colony. 

He founded Quebec, high up on the St. Lawrence. 
He was the father of French settlements in America. He 
devoted the last thirty years of his life to extending them 
along the valley of the St. Lawrence, and creating the do- 
minion of New France or Canada. 

37. The missionary zeal of the Jesuits greatly aided 
the efforts of Champlain. In fifty years from his death, they 
had discovered the Great Lakes, had reached the Mississippi, 
had descended that long and noble stream, and had gained for 
France the unbounded territory of Louisiana. In the reign 
of Louis XIV. the French claimed the whole valley of the 
St. Lawrence, and that of the Mississippi, besides the unknown 
region round Lake Superior. 



DUTCH AND SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 

38. The Dutch began their trading voyages to 
North America the year after the foundation of Quebec, 
but as soon as their independence of Spain was assured 



DUTCH AND SWEDISH SETTLEMENTS. 25 

Henry Hudson, an English captain, was employed by the Dutch 
East India Company, to search for a north-west passage to the 
Indies. He was driven back by ice, and followed the Amer- 
ican coast down to the capes of the Chesapeake. He would 
not enter that splendid bay, as he knew that its waters were 
already occupied by England. He turned back, 
1609. entered the bay of New York, discovered the 
North, or Hudson River, and ascended it to the neighborhood 
of Albany. Next year he perished in the great northern gulf, 
called after him Hudson's Bay. 

39. Hudson's report of "the goodly land" which he 
had visited, induced the merchants of Amsterdam to send 
vessels to trade with the Indians of that country, for skins and 
furs, and other wild commodities. A fort was erected on 
Manhattan Island. The town which spread around the fort 
was called New Amsterdam. It has grown into the populous, 
busy, and wealthy city of New York. A settlement was 
begun just below the site of what is now Albany. Trading 
posts were established on the Connecticut River. For ten 
years, trade with the Indians was all that was thought of, as 
the Hudson River and its banks were included in the claims 
and in the grants of England. These claims were, however, 
disregarded by the Dutch West India Company, who took 
possession of the country from the mouth of the Delaware to 
Cape Cod, and gave it the name of New Netherlands. 

40. To secure their settlements along the Delaware and the 
Hudson, the Dutch granted extensive tracts, or man- 
ors, to those who transported settlers and established planta- 
tions. These large estates did not encourage population, and 
they caused enduring discontent. The thinly inhabited and 
scattered settlements were exposed to Indian attack ; and the 
Indians were provoked by harshness and injustice. Other 
dangers arose from the conflicting claims to the country. 

41. Gustavus Adolphus, the great Protestant King 
of Sweden, recommended colonization in America, in order 



26 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to Strengthen Protestantism, and to further Swedish trade. 
He was too deeply engaged in war to carry his recommenda- 
tions into effect. After his death, Swedish emigrants estab- 
lished themselves on Delaware Bay. They were left undis- 
turbed for some years. The Dutch, however, became jealous 
of them ; and the West India Company ordered their officers 
in the New Netherlands " to drive the Swedes into the river, 
or to compel them to submission." 

42. Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch Governor, called 
out the colonial troops, and, in a single campaign, forced all 
the Swedish forts to surrender. Resistance was vain. The 
army of the assailants was neither numerous nor formidable. 
The Swedes were only a few hundred, and were too much 
scattered to offer any combined opposition.* 

43. The Dutch did not long enjoy their unjust tri- 
umph over the Swedes. England had always claimed the 
country occupied by both. The Dutch had given frequent 
provocations to the English in Europe, in America, and in the 
East Indies. On the restoration of Charles II. to the British 
throne, he granted to his brother, the Duke of York, after- 
wards James II., the country between the Delaware and the 
Connecticut rivers. 

An expedition was sent against the Dutch colony 
1664. on the Hudson. New Amsterdam surrendered at 
once, and received the name of New York, from the title of 
the Duke. The dominion of Holland in North America was 
closed after an existence of fifty years. Descendants of the 
early Dutch settlers are prominent citizens of the States of 
New York and New Jersey to the present day. Names of 
places also perpetuate the memory of the Dutch rule. 

* This mean and petty war has been humorously related by Washington Irving', 
ia Knickerbocker's History of New York. 



[. SYNCHRONAL CHART OF AMER 



970. Greenland discovered by Gu 
982. The East Coast of Greenla 

of Iceland, 
looi. The Icelanders Leif Eriks 

Massachusetts, etc. 



SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE. 



1492. Oct. 12, America, by Chris- 
topher Columbus. 

1498. South America, by Columbus. 

1499. Voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. 

1500. Brazil, by the Portuguese Cor- 

tereal. 

1 5 12. Florida, by Ponce de Leon. 

1513. The Pacific, by Balboa. 

1 5 19. Conquest of Mexico, by Cortez. 



1526-32. Conquest of Peru, by Pizarro. 
1528. Cabeza de Vaca crosses the New- 
Continent. 
1532. California, by Grijalva. 

1539-42. The Mississippi, by De Sotc. 



1565. St. Augustine, in Florida, found- 
ed by Melendez de Avila. 



FRENCH. 



24. Verazzani on the eastern shor| 
of North America. 



1534. 



1562. 
1564. 



The St. Lawrence and Canad 

by Jacques Cartier. 
Port Royal, in South Carolin 

settled by Ribault. 
Fort Carolina, in Florida, si 

tied by Ribault. 



1608. Quebec founded by Champlai. 



1 



I 



\N DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATJON. 



SCOVERIES. 



-orn, from Iceland, 
discovered by Erik Rauda (the Red), 

and Biorn explore Vinland, Canada, 



DUTCH AND SWEDISH, 



ENGLISH. 



1496-97. North America, by the 
Cabots. 







1525. Expedition sent to North Amer- 






ica by Henry VIII. 






1576. Frobisher's voyages. 






1583. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's explora- 






tions. 






1584. Expedition to Roanoke Island, 






by Sir W. Raleigh. 






1585. Lane's Colony. 






1587. White's Colony. 






1600. Gosnold's attempt in New Eng- 






land. 






1607. Virginia Colony at Jamestown. 






Popham's Colony at Sagahadok. 


1609. The Hudson 


, by Henry Hud- 




son. 




1620. Plymouth Colony. 

1630. Massachusetts Bay Colony. 

1633. Maryland. 


1638. The Swedes, 


on Delaware Bay. 





SUMMARY OF TOPICS. 27 

SUMMARY OF TOPICS.— PART I. 

FOR USE IN RECITATION AND REVIEW. 

The New World, i. The United States ; size ; population ; situa- 
tion ; how acquired ; the story. 2. The New World ; long unknown ; 
how long known. 

The Natives. 3. The Indians ; origin ; legends. 4. The social con- 
)n. 5. Traces of civilized races ; the Mound Builders. 

The North American Indians. 6. Their relations to colonists. 7. 
v^omplexion ; frame ; features. 8. Physical aptitudes ; characteristics. 
9. Dwellings ; occupations. 10. Delight in war ; conduct in battle ; to 
prisoners, ii. Chief employment ; tame animals ; implements, tools, 
utensils. 12. Condition and treatment of women — and children. 13. Re- 
ligion ; government. 14. Letters ; means of communication ; inven- 
tion of characters. 15. Principal branches east of the Mississippi — 
west of the Mississippi ; most advanced tribes. 16. Unity of the race ; 
differences ; agreement. 17. Stock encountered by the English settlers ; 
diminution of the number of the Indians. 

Discovery of America. 18. Early visits to America ; Atlantis ; 
Madoc ; visits in the fifth and tenth centuries; Icelanders and Nor- 
wegians. 19. Genoa. 20. The boy born there ; his early life. 21. Co- 
lumbus at Lisbon. 22. His scheme of sailing westward ; his efforts to 
obtain means ; his final success. 23. Contribution of the Queen, and 
of others ; his first voyage. 24. Discovery of land ; for whom claimed. 
25. Three other voyages ; death of Columbus. 26. North America dis- 
covered ; Amerigo Vespucci. 

Spanish Colonization. 27. Motive of discovery and colonization ; 
treatment of the natives ; introduction of father labor — by whom. 28. 
Distribution of the new lands ; Portugal's acquisition of Brazil ; extent of 
Spanish dominion. 29. The Spanish conquerors: Balboa; Cortez ; 
Pizarro ; Ponce de Leon ; Coronado. 30. Mines of silver and gold. 

French Explorations, etc. 31. First French exploration. 32. The 
St. Lawrence. 33. Coligny's design. 34. His second attempt ; fate of 
the colonists. 35. The revenge. 36. Occupation of Canada. 37. Jesuit 
zeal ; extent of French discoveries and claims. 

Dutch and Swedish Settlements. 38. Dutch trade to North Amer- 
ica ; Henry Hudson ; his procedure and death. 39. New Amsterdam ; 
other settlements ; New Netherlands. 40. Measures to induce settle- 
ment. 41. Swedish colonization ; Dutch jealousy. 42. Stuyvesant's 
campaign. 43. Loss of New Netherlands by the Dutch. 



28 HlSrOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



PART II. 
THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 

1S7S-176S. 

FIRST ENGLISH ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION. 

I. More than three-quarters of a century passed 
away before the English took advantage of the discovery of 
the mainland of North America by the Cabots. When Henry 
VIII. undertook further explorations, he was warned by the 
Emperor Charles V., that the Pope had granted America to 
Spain.* He quietly renounced his desire of possessions in 
the New World. The bitter hatred which sprang up be- 
tween England and Spain, in the reign of Elizabeth, directed 
the attention of the English to the great continent beyond the 
Atlantic. \ The fisheries of Newfoundland had been long fre- 
quented by English ships. 

The dream of a north-west passage to Asia attracted English 
mariners to the northern seas of America. Martin Frobisher 
sailed on such an expedition, and brought home from Labra- 
dor rocks and dirt supposed to be rich in gold. Every adven- 
turer, since the first voyage of Columbus, expected to win easy 
wealth in America by the discovery of endless mines of pre- 
cious metals. The expectation had been increased by the 
treasures extracted from Mexico and Peru ; and has been 
strangely justified by the experience of the living generation. 



♦The English possessions in America were not recognized by Spain till 1670. 

+ A petition was presented to Queen Elizabeth, in the spring of 1574, " to allow of 
an enterprise for the discovery of sundry rich and unknown lands fatally 1 eserved for 
England, and for the honor of your Majestie." This is indorsed by Sir Humphreji 
Gilbert, Sir Richard Grenville, and others. 




ENGLISH COLONIZATION. 29 

2. Queen Elizabeth granted a patent * to Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert " to undertake the discovery of the northern 
parts of America." His first expedition, made in conjunction 
with his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, accomplished nothing. 

On the second, he took possession of Newfoundland 
^ for the English Crown, f 
Losing one of his ves- 
sels off the coast of Maine, he 
turned homewards with the two that 
remained. He was himself on board 
the Squirrel, the smaller and weaker 
bark. It foundered in a storm. The 
last words heard from Sir Humphrey 
were : " Courage, my lads, we are as 
near heaven on sea as on land." ^^^ ^^ raleigh's smps. 

3. The grant to Gilbert was renewed to Sir Walter 
« Raleigh. Two exploring vessels were sent out by 

him under Amidas and Barlow. They came to the 
Island of Woco'ken, at the mouth of Ocracoke Inlet, on the 
coast of North Carolina. They carried back two of the na- 
tives, and described in glowing terms the charms of the cli- 
mate, the waters, the forests, the fruits, and the flowers. The 
Queen called the new and beautiful land Virginia, in honor 
of her own maiden reign. 

4. Sir Richard Grenville conducted a second expe- 
dition. He was Sir Walter's kinsman, a daring sailor, and 
had long been an eager advocate of American adventure. 
Ralph Lane went out as governor of the projected colony, and 
was accompanied by one hundred and eight emigrant.^. They 
landed on Roanoke Island, examined the neighborhood, and 
explored the Roanoke River in search of gold and silver. 



* A patent is a charter or grant issued by sovereign authority. In 1578, Queen Eliz* 
abeth conferred such a patent on Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Such patents became fre- 
quent outside of North America. 

t In 1610, James I. made a grant of Newfoundland to the Earl of Southampton, 
Sir Francis Bacon and Company. * 



30 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 



5. The settlers maintained friendly relations with 
the Indians at first, but discords soon arose. The wild na- 
tives feared that " there were more of the English yet to come, 
to kill their people and fill their places." The strangers were 
suspicious. Wingina {-Jee'nah), a newly appointed chief, was 
treacherously slain. His tribe refused to furnish provisionSj 
and the colonists were brought almost to starvation. They 
gladly accepted the chance of returning home on board of Sir 
Francis Drake's ships, which had touched upon the coast. 
They had scarcely departed when Grenville came back from 
England. He left fifteen men to retain the post. Their bones 
alone were found when the next emigrants arrived. 

6. Raleigh did not abandon his attempt. He formed 
a company to continue the enterprise. Families, and not 
merely unmarried men, were sent out. They were instructed 
to pick up the men left by Grenville, and then settle on Chesa- 
peake Bay, The captain of the fleet refused to continue the 
voyage, after landing them on Roanoke Island. There they 
remained ; and there the city of Raleigh was begun. Provi- 
sions were scarce. The Indians were unfriendly. White, the 
Governor, was induced to return to England for supplies and 
additional settlers. He came back to the coast. The colo- 
nists were neither seen nor heard of again. All perished of 
hunger, or by the savages. Their fate was never discovered. 
They numbered one hundred and seventeen persons, includ- 
ing Virginia Dare, White's granddaughter, the first English 
child born in America, and only ten days old at the time of 
White's departure. 

7. Assistance to the endangered colony had been pre- 
vented by war with Spain, and the hazards at home from the 
Invincible Armada.* When this danger passed away, several 
fruitless efforts were made for the relief or discovery of the 



* The Invincible Armada was a powerful fleet, designed by Philip II. of Spain iot 
the invasion and conquest of England. It sailed from the Tagus 29th May, 1588. It 
suflfered much from the attacks of the English in the British Channel, and was de- 
stroyed by storms on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. 



THE VIRGINIA COLONY. ^j 

hapless settlers. Raleigh sent out several expeditions which 
achieved nothing. His means were much reduced by his expen- 
sive undertakings. He was himself actively engaged in the con- 
tinued warfare with Spain.* He assigned all his rights to a new 
company, which accomplished no results worthy of mention. 



THE VIRGINIA COLONY, 1606-1619. 

8. Raleigh was condemned as a traitor, and his patent 
was forfeited to the Crown soon after James I. became King 
of England. James then granted a charter for American col- 
onization to two new companies ; one composed chiefly of 
London adventurers ; the other, of traders and explorers from 
the West of England. The former was entitled the London 
Company ; the latter, the Plymouth Company. Both were 
subject to " the Council of Virginia," whose members resided 
in England, and held their meetings in London. A long 
stretch of the Atlantic coast was divided between the two 
companies. Lands were to be held by the freest tenure ; but 
for five years labor was to be performed for common, and not 
for private benefit. 

9. Capt. Christopher Newport sailed with three small 
vessels,! in December, 1606, and was driven by a storm 

* Sir Walter Raleigh is the true founder of the English colonies in America. He 
left no colony of his own. He pointed the way, and gave encouragement to those 
which succeeded. He spent vast sums in his endeavor to make "a plantation " in 
what his friend, the great poet Spenser, calls " the fruitfullest Virginia." 

Raleigh (i 552-1618) was a most notable man in a notable age. He was handsome, 
intelligent, dashing, bold, adventurous, skilful. He was a distinguished soldier in 
the wars of France, Ireland, and Spain. He was the greatest naval commander of his 
day. He was a statesman, a scholar, a poet, an historian, and a man of scientific re- 
ccarch. He was, moreover, a brilliant courtier. England owes to him the beginning 
of her colonial and her maritime supremacy. The world is indebted to him for the 
Irish potato and tobacco. 

t The Susan Constant^ of 100 tons burden, Capt. Newport ; the Godspeed^ of 40 tons, 
Capt. Gosnold ; and the Discovery^ of 20 tons, Capt. Ratcliffe. 

Capt. Gilbert, a member of Sir Humphrey's family, had sailed up the Chesapeake* 
during the year, and had been lost on the expedition. 



32 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



into Chesapeake Bay. There were only one hundred and five 
colonists, including seven Councillors for the government of 
the plantation. The names of the Councillors were inclosed 
in a box, which the king had ordered not to be opened till 
after their arrival in America. The voyagers proceeded up 
the broad stream of the Powhatan', and named it James 
River, after the English monarch. They selected a place for 
settlement on the northern bank of the stream, and called it 
Jamestown, also after the king. 

10. Quarrels began as soon as the box containing the 
names of the Councillors was opened. There had been serious 
contentions on the voyage. Wingfield was chosen President. 
John Smith, one of the Councillors named, was denied his 
place in the Council. He had been arrested on the outward 
passage. When brought to trial, he was fully acquitted ; but 
the governing body was a turbulent and squabbling set. 

II. Capt. John 
Smith * was re- 
markable among 
the most remarka- 
ble men engaged 
in the settlement 
of America, and 
he has been re- 
garded as the true 
founder of the Eng- 
lish colonies there. 
His advent u res 
were as surprising 
as those of any ro- 
mance. In boy- 
hood, he had run 
away, and gone to 
Turkish wars. He 




CAPT. JOHN SMITH. 

He had fought in the Dutch and 

* Capt. John Smith's (1559-1631) adventures, " hair-breadth escapes,'' and 



sea. 



moving 



THE VIRGINIA COLONY. 



zz 



had thrice slain a Turkish opponent in single combat. He 
had been thrown into the sea by his fellows, to propi- 
tiate the storm. He had been a slave among the Turks, and 
among the Tartars. He had escaped through Russia and 
Poland, after killing his master with a flail. He had been 
twice saved by the affection of noble ladies. He had wan- 
dered through Germany, France, Spain, and Morocco ; and 
had drifted back to England in time to join Capt. Newport's 
expedition. 

12. Jamestown had a hard struggle for existence. 

It was attacked by the Indians during Smith's absence on a 
visit to Powhatan. The site was unhealthy. Half the colonists 
died of an epidemic. They 
were lazy, thoughtless, and 
would not work. Trouble in- 
flamed discords. Wingfield 
was removed from the Pre- 
sidency. Ratcliffe, a much 
worse man, was appointed in 
his stead. 

Smith undertook the explo- 
ration of the Chickahominy to 
find a water line to the Pacific. 
He was overpowered by the 
Indians. He himself escaped 
slaughter, when his compan- ( 
ions were slain, by showing his 

pocket compass to the savages. pocahontas. 

He was carried by them to their chief, O-pe-chan'ca-nough {-no). 




accidents by flood and field," rest mainly on his own authority, but derive confirma- 
tion from contemporaneous records. His story was questioned in his own day by the 
quaint and inaccurate Thomas Fuller, and has been recently disputed. 

The sneer of Fuller in his " Worthies," and the arpfuments of some recent writers, 
assailing the veracity of Smith's surprising narrative, have been ably answered (1882) 
and discredited by Mr. William Wirt Henry, of Richmond, in an Address delivered 
before the Virginia Historical Society. 



34 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Opechancanough conveyed him to Powhatan, the great chief. 
He was saved from death by Powhatan's young daughter 
Pocahontas, or Mato'kes. She is said to have placed her 
head between his and the clubs of the savage executioners. 
He was sent back to Jamestown vv^ith honor, and peace was 
made with Powhatan. 

13. One hundred and twenty more emigrants 
arrived during the winter. Provisions continued to be very 
scarce. In the second summer, Smith explored the waters 
of the Chesapeake, and made a chart of them and the neigh- 
boring shores. He was chosen President on his return, and 
encountered bitter opposition. He visited Powhatan again, 
to insure peace, and to obtain food for his people. He paid 
a visit also to Opechancanough, and seized that bloody chief 
in the midst of his braves. By such skill and daring he pro- 
cured sustenance for the starving colony. 

14. The Virginia Company in England was disheart- 
ened by the heavy expenses and the scant returns. The colo- 
nists transported, and the arrangements for labor adopted, were 
not suited for the hard task of subduing the wilderness. Dis- 
appointment was the result. The company obtained another 
charter, which enlarged the territorial limits of their grant ; and 
extended them from the Atlantic to the Pacific* 

15. Lord Delaware was appointed Governor-Gen- 
eral for life under the new charter. Nine vessels, with five 
hundred emigrants, sailed from Plymouth. One ship v/as.sunk 
in a storm. The rest were scattered abroad upon the ocean. 
The Sea Adventure, carrying the three Commissioners for the 
new Government — Gates, Somers, and Newport— was wrecked 
on the Bermudas. The seven others reached Jamestown, 
battered by the gales, and with deficient supplies. 



* Little was yet known of the width of the continent. The English were ac 
quainted only with the Atlantic shore. The Pacific was supposed to be not very far 
distant in the west. It had been discovered by crossing- the narrow Isthmus of 
Darien, and the Gulf of California had been visited by Cortez after the conquest ot 
Mexico. There were no means of estimating the intervening breadth of country. 



FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH COLONY. 35 

16. The old colonists were hungry and quarrel- 
some. The existing Government was set aside by the new 
charter. Smith did what he could to maintain order and to 
keep off destitution. He was injured by an explosion of powder, 
and returned to England to seek medical aid. His departure 
left the colony almost without control. Hostilities with the 
Indians were renewed. Famine followed. In six months 
four hundred and ninety colonists were reduced to sixty. 
This wretched period is known as The Starving Time. 
One man was put to death for killing and eating his wife ; 
others fed upon the corpses of the dead. 

17. At length Gates, Somers, and Newport arrived 
in two small vessels, which they had patched up out of the 
wreck of the Sea Adventure. Their arrival only increased the 
misery of the famishing people, by swelling the number of 
mouths to be fed. All determined to abandon the unhappy 
land. They were stopped on their way down by a message 
from Lord Delaware, who had reached Old Point Comfort, at 
the mouth of the James. 

THE FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH COLONY. 

18. On Sunday, the loth of June, the rescued set- 
^ tiers returned to their lately deserted abode, and 
- * renewed the task of settling and subduing the earth. 

They said to their countrymen at home : " God 
will raise our State and build his church in this excellent 
clime." The Virginia colony was saved, and its romantic his- 
tory proceeded without further break. 

19. Lord Delaware endeavored to establish order 
and industry. His health gave way. He went back to 
England, leaving Lord Percy* as Deputy-Governor of the two 
hundred colonists remaining. He died some years later, on 



* Lord Percy was the brother of the Earl of Northumberland, the fellow-prisonef 
of Raleigh in the Tower of London. 



i6 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



his return voyage to Virginia, and gave his name to the bay- 
off which he expired. He had spent his Hfe, his labors, 
and his fortune in maintaining the EngUsh hold on North 
America.* 

20. Not long after Lord Delaware's departure, Virginia 
was put under the harsh rule of a military code, pre- 
pared by Sir Thomas Smith, 
the treasurer of the com- 
pany in England. It was 
enforced by Sir Thomas 
Dale, a stern 
soldier, but an 
able man. New 



rived, and the 
condition of the 
settlers was 
soon improved, 
by granting to 
each man a 
few acres to 
be held and 
cultivated as 
his own. A few 
years later a 
hundred acres 
were bestowed jamestown. 

upon each actual settler, and the culture of tobacco was 
introduced. The colony then advanced rapidly in numbers 
and prosperity. 
21. The king changed the constitution of the council 




* In June, 1634, Cecily, Lady De La Warr, represented in a petition to the king 
that the success of the colony of Virginia was " due to the large sums of money 
expended out of her jointure, and that she was left burthened with many debts, and 
had only £zo per annum to maintain herself and seven children." 



THE VIRGINIA COLONY WITH A LEGISLATURE. 37 

in England, and the control of Virginia affairs was taken out 
of the hands of Sir Thomas Smith. His management had pro- 
voked many complaints. The colonists were allowed to make 
laws for themselves, but these required the approval of the 
English Government. The first Legislature in Virginia — the 
first representative body in America — met at Jamestown 
in the summer of 16 19. New emigrants continued to arrive. 
In three years more than three thousand persons were added 
to the population. The company had spent seventy thousand 
pounds in the enterprise.* 

22. During the first twelve years the Virginia colony 
consisted almost exclusively of men under rigorous rule. 
There were few women among them. The colonists were 
chiefly soldiers of fortune, broken tradesmen, idle laborers, 
straggling sailors, vagrants, spendthrift gentlemen, and adven- 
turers in search of gold and sudden gain. Now, poor but 
respectable women were sent, and were sold to the highest 
bidder. They fared so well that many more were dispatched 
to the thriving plantation. The price of a wife reached one 
lumdred and fifty pounds of tobacco. It was not a high price 
for a wife, but tobacco was still scarce and costly, and money 
was little known on the banks of James River. 

THE VIRGINIA COLONY ^A^ITH A LEGISLATURE. 

23. The marriage of Pocahontas before this time had 
proved of much benefit to the colony. Powhatan had sent 
her away to a more northern tribe as quarrels arose with the 
English, and as he looked forward to bitter wars with them. 
She was seized in her retreat by Capt. Argall, and brought a 
prisoner in his ship to Jamestown. She became a Christian, 
and the bride of John Rolfe, who had been her instructor in 



* A writer of the time thus describes the condition of Virginia in 1615 : * * * "For 
Virginia, we know not what to do with it. * * * The great expense that the no- 
bility and gentry have been at in planting Virginia is no way recompensed by the 
poor returns from thence." 



38 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

religion.* Peace resulted from the marriage ; and Powhatan 
furnished corn for the support of the English settlers till their 
own crops sufficed for their needs. Pocahontas survived only 
a short time. She was taken to England by her husband, was 
presented to the king and queen, and was kindly treated by 
them. She met Capt. Smith, who published that his life had 
been saved by her.f She sickened and died as she was set= 
ting out on her return. J 

INTRODUCTION OF AFRICAN SLAVERY. 

24. The colony appeared to be at length firmly established, 
and the future was full of hope. Emigrants came in numbers, 
and the culture of tobacco was extended. A Dutch vessel 
arrived, and sold twenty negro slaves to the planters. 
This was the beginning of slavery in the English colonies. 
The number of the slaves grew with fresh importations. They 
furnished the labor for clearing the forest, inclosing the lands, 
cultivating the soil, and for other manual service. The experi- 
ment of sending out convicts had been tried by the king's 
order. It had failed, and had been abandoned. 

The new Legislature tried, with little success, to civilize the 
Indians by converting them to Christianity. Provision was 
made for their education by the endowment of a college, the 
first proposed in the English colonies. 



* There is a very curious letter still in existence, addressed by Rolfe to the Gover- 
nor of Virginia, setting forth with the utmost earnestness the religious considerations 
which recommended his marriage Avith Pocahontas. 

t The romantic tale of the preser\'ation of John Smith's life by the impulsive hero- 
ism of Pocahontas has been questioned, but its truth has been ably maintained. It 
rests upon Smith's own statement, made some j-ears after the occurrence alleged. 
Nearly all that we know of Smith has the same foundation, and is not above reason- 
able suspicion or qualification. 

X Several very respectable families in Virginia trace their lineage back to Pocahon- 
tas. It has been recently stated in the papers that a daughter of hers was born dur- 
ing the visit to England, and that her descendants still survive there. To this little 
credit can be given without full evidence. . 



THE GREAT MASSACRE, ,q 

THE GREAT MASSACRE. 

25. A fearful calamity overwhelmed the colony. 

Powhatan was dead. Opechancanough succeeded to his au- 
thority. He assured the Governor that '' the sky should fall 
before he broke the peace." A false security produced rash 
1622 ^^P°^^^^ ^"^ ^^^ neglect of all precautions. The 
Indians treacherously attacked the settlers on their 
scattered plantations. In a few hours, on the night of March 
2 2d, nearly three hundred and fifty persons were butchered.* 
The names of all have been preserved. Jamestown had been 
warned and was saved. The colony seemed to be ruined. 
This horror was called The Great Massacre. 

26. The recent slaughter was charged to unwise 
rule. The settlers were dissatisfied with the government of 

, the English council; and the council was divided into 
bitter factions. The Virginia charter was revoked. 
The king assumed the government, and Virginia became a 
royal colony. 

27. Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic nobleman, came 
to Virginia, seeking a refuge for the persecuted Catholics of 
England. He was forbidden to remain, because he could not 
take the oath to support the English Church required by the 
colonial constitution. He went back to England, and pro- 
cured a royal grant of the country round the head of Chesa- 
peake Bay. Here was afterwards established the Catholic col- 
ony of Maryland, From this grant arose squabbles and petty 
warfare between the new colony and Clayborne, the surveyor 
of Virginia. The Governor and Legislature got involved in 
the controversy, and discord sprang up between them. The 
Governor, Sir John Harvey, was deposed by the House of 
Burgesses, and sent to England for trial. He was restored by 
the king. Virginia continued to prosper, notwithstanding the 
dissensions, and the low price of tobacco, which had been 

* Three hundred and forty-nine was the exact number, which is put at three hun- 
dred and forty-seven by many historians. 



40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

made a royal monopoly. A provisional Governor who pre- 
ceded Harvey had been removed for hog-stealing. He was 
pardoned in consequence of an epidemic, and of his being the 
only physician in the country. 

28. Sir William Berkeley was appointed by Charles I. 
Governor of Virginia, in the year when the Great Rebellion 
broke out in England.* He was an elegant, brave, but pas- 
sionate man, thoroughly loyal to the king. The colonists 
entertained a high regard for him. They were warmly at- 
tached to the royal Government, as was proved by their 
" Declaration against the Company," when that body asked to 
be restored to their former rights and privileges. 

29. A second slaughter of the settlers by the In- 
, dians occurred twenty-two years after the Great 

Massacre. Opechancanough ravaged the frontier. 
Five hundred of the English were slain. The English colo- 
nies grew up in the midst of danger from the savages. The 
population, however, had increased with wonderful rapidity 
since Virginia had become a dependency of the English Crown. 
Sir William called out the forces of the colony. He marched 
against Opechancanough, captured him, and brought him to 
Jamestown. The hostile chief was old, helpless, and almost 
blind. He was brutally murdered by one of his guards ; and 
complained in death of being made a show to the people. 
His fall broke up the Indian confederation, and put an end to 
many perils. 

VIRGINIA UNDER THE COMMON^A^EALTH.t 

30. The Civil War in England drove many Royalists 
to Virginia. Many more followed after the unhappy monarch 
had been beheaded by the victorious Puritans. Virginia re- 
mained faithful to the young son of the dead king. Com- 



* The Great Rebellion (1641-1649) was the name given to the war between Charles 
I. and the Parliament. It closed with the deposition and execution of the king. 

t The English Commonwealth designates the period (1649-1660) from the execution 
of Charles I. to the restoration of Charles II. 



VIRGINIA UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH. 41 

missioners were dispatched by the ParHament to reduce it. A- 
treaty was made \yith them, securing to the Virginia people 
" such freedoms and privileges as belong to the free-born peo- 
ple of England." Sir William Berkeley retired to his planta- 
tion near Jamestown. A Provisional Government was set up 
, on the return of the Commissioners from Maryland. 
The new Governor was elected by the Assembly, by 
whom all officials were chosen. On the death of Cromwell, 
the House of Burgesses restored Sir William Berkeley. Vir- 
ginia had been almost independent during the English Com- 
monwealth. It was the first British possession to proclaim 
Charles II. From its loyalty it obtained the name of the Old 
Dominion, and commemoration in the titles and on the coins 
of the British sovereign.'" 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 

31. The Northern parts of America early attracted 
English enterprise, h. plantation in that quarter was projected 
in the very opening of the seventeenth century. A year before 
Raleigh's patent was forfeited, Capt. Gosnold discovered Cape 
Cod in Massachusetts, and named it from the abundance of 
codfish in the waters around. He built a small fort, but the 
garrison refused to remain, from dread of the Indians. A 
second attempt to establish a colony was made by Raleigh 
Gilbert. 

The coast continued to be visited by English traders. Many 
adventurers resided for brief periods along those shores. Capt. 
John Smith, with the office of Admiral of New England, ex- 
plored the coasts, and expressed his wonder at the plenty of 



* Charles II. added to the royal motto: '■'• Eti dat Virginia quintavi "— Virpfinia 
gives the fifth crown. The five crowns were those of England, France, Scotland, 
Ireland, and Virginia. 

To this loyalty may, perhaps, be ascribed the uncertain origin of the designation, 
the " Old Dominion," applied to all of Virginia east of the mountains. 



42 HISTOR V OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 

fish, and of the trade that might be thus supported. The dan- 
ger from Indians was slight ; for an infectious disease, caught 
from the Europeans, had swept away multitudes from those 
bleak regions. The whole tract had been assigned to the Ply- 
mouth Company. The name of New England was bestowed 
upon it by Smith, at the suggestion of Prince Henry, eldest 
son of James I. 

Z2. No permanent colony was attempted within the 
Plymouth grant till the closing years of James. A small band 
of English pilgrims from Holland, where they had sought a 
refuge from religious persecutions at home, founded a settle- 
ment in that inclement wilderness. They did not select the 
locality. They were dropped there against their will. They 
desired a more southern abode. They had received slight en- 
couragement from the Plymouth Company. The king had 
expressed his readiness to overlook their heresy if they did not 
otherwise violate English law. He inquired how they pro- 
posed to make a living. " By fishing," they replied. " By my 
soul," said the king, '' a most apostoHc vocation." 

33. One hundred and one Puritan pilgrims, the pio- 
neers of a larger number soon to follow, started from Delft, in 
Holland, under the charge of Elder Brewster. They pur- 
chased a small vessel and hired another to transport them 
across the ocean. The Speedwell, which they bought, proved 

crazy, and was abandoned. The May/lower, which 
Sent 6 ^^^^^ hired, sailed alone from Plymouth, and landed 

them near Cape Cod. Their intention was to settle 
on richer lands and under happier skies. The season was late, 
and the captain of the Mayflower was in haste to return. 
They were compelled to land in a country which did not 
attract them, and which they had not designed to occupy. 

34. The emigrants signed an agreement for their 
government before landing. They elected John Carver, 
Governor, and Miles Standish, Captain. A committee of three 
determined the place of settlement. A hamlet was begun on 



THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 43 

Christmas-day, 1620.* It was called Plymouth, after the Eng- 
lish harbor from which they had set sail. The new abode was 
begun in midwinter, in a severe climate. In January, eight 
died ; in February, seventeen ; in March, fourteen.f Among 
the victims were Governor Carver and his wife. Fortunately 
the settlers were not troubled by Indians, as pestilence had 
left scarcely any in the country around. 

35. A single Indian straggled into the little settle- 
ment before the return of spring. He saluted the strangers 
with the greeting : " Welcome, Englishmen !" He had picked 
up a few words of English from traffickers on the coast. This 
visit produced an alliance with Massasoit, the chief of the 
Wampanoags, which lasted for fifty years. Other tribes pro- 
fessed friendship, but Canonicus, the head of the Narragan- 
setts, sent a bundle of arrows, bound with the skin of a snake, 
as a symbol of hostility. Governor Bradford sent back the skin, 
stuffed with powder and shot. Canonicus remained quiet. 
The Indians were provoked by some settlers who had been 
established in the neighborhood, by Weston, a trader. Disturb- 
ances ensued. Capt. Standish was sent to discover an alleged 
plot of the Narragansetts. He stabbed one of the chiefs with 
his own hand. John Robinson, the Puritan pastor in Leyden, 



* The main body of the Pilgrims landed on Monday, December 25th. The rock on 
which they stepped from their boats when they reached the shore is celebrated as the 
Plymouth Rock. A part of it still remains in position and may be recognized. A part 
was conveyed to the heart of the town more than a century ago. A handsome arch 
nas been built over it, as a monument. Seventeen men landed on Monday, December 
nth, but the main body disembarked two weeks later, December 25th. 

These dates are according to the Old Style. The New Style was adopted in Eng- 
land in 1752. By this, n was added to the number expressing the day of the month. 
Thus, Dec. nth, O. S., became Dec. 22d, N. S., the day which has long been celebrated 
by the descendants of the Pilgrims as " Forefathers' Day." In 1620, there was, in 
fact, a difference of only 10 days between the two styles, and December 21st is the 
true anniversary of the landing, and the date inscribed on the new monument at 
Plymouth. 

t " In three months past die half our company. The greater part in the depth of 
winter, wanting houses and other comforts ; being infected with scurvy and other 
diseases, which their long voyage and uncomfortable condition brought upon them. 
Of a hundred scarce fifty remain— the living scarce able to bury the dead." * * ♦ 
— Gov. Bradford." 



44 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

wrote, when he heard of the barbarity, " How happy a thing it 
would have been that some had been converted before any 
were slain ! " 

36. The new Plymouth Colony advanced slowly, and 
suffered much from the harsh climate, and from insufficient 
subsistence.* Other settlements were attempted. Capt. John 
Mason obtained a tract of country between Salem and the 
mouth of the Merrimac. This he named Mariana. Sir Fer- 
dinando Gorges procured a grant of the lands between the 
Merrimac and the Kennebec, and called it Laconia. Thus 
began the settlement of New Hampshire and Maine.f An ef- 
fort was made to establish Scotch emigrants east of the Saint 
Croix, on lands granted to Sir Alexander Sterling, in what is 
now Nova Scotia. 

37. The successful settlement of New England was 
achieved by a different enterprise. A strictly Puritan colony 
was begun at Salem, to which John Endicott led settlers, after 

a charter for Massachusetts 
Bay had been obtained. 
Little was accomplished till 
it was decided to remove 
> the council and the govern- 
ment of the new colony to 
America. John Winthrop 
and eleven other gentle- 
men conducted the 
IN 1632. scheme. They resolved 

, " to colonize only their best men." Winthrop took 
, ^' out seven hundred colonists, "for the most part 
' yeomen, mechanics, and farm laborers, with their 
women and children." They removed to Charlestown, as they 

* The Plymouth Colony was annexed to that of Massachusetts Bay by the charter 
of William and Mary, in 1691. 

t The name by which the country was first known was the Indian name, Norimbeg-a. 
It was called Maine in compliment to Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I., and 
dtiu{?hter of Henry IV. of France. She had some connections with the French duchy 
of Maine. 




THE FIRST CHURCH BUILT IN BOSTON 



THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 4^ 

found Salem in distress. In two years new settlements and 
churches sprang up. The villages clustered round the places 
of worship. 

38. The Puritans in America were as intolerant as 
those from whose persecutions they had fled. Only members 
of their churches were allowed to vote. Only Puritans of ap- 
proved faith could be deputies to the General Court or Leg- 
islature. Religious and political dissensions resulted from this 
rigor. Winthrop, who had been elected Governor four times 
successively, was replaced by Henry Vane, a young and ear-, 
nest fanatic fresh from England. 

Further divisions were caused by the appointment of Roger 
Williams to the charge of the church at Salem. Williams was 
desirous of tolerating all creeds. He was banished, and strayed 
through the wilderness till he got beyond the limits of the 
colony. Anne Hutchinson and others were also driven into 
exile for upholding doctrines different from those prescribed. 

39. The stern community prospered in the midst of 
strife. In ten years 21,000 emigrants arrived. The fisheries 
were very lucrative and supported a large trade. The people 
were industrious, enterprising, and frugal. Settlements spread 
widely through the surrounding country. Earnest encourage- 
ment was given to education. Harvard College was founded 
on a small bequest of John Harvard. 

40. Charles I. and his ministers were alarmed by the 
growth of the Puritan colonies. These provided a retreat for 
numbers of the political and religious opponents of the king. 
They gave strength and support to the discontented at home. 
Archbishop Laud was placed at the head of a commission for 
the government of New England. Emigration to the new 
country was restrained. It has often been represented that 
Oliver Cromwell and John Hampden were thus prevented 
from emigrating to it. The civil war in England, and the 
overthrow of the king favored the fortunes of the New England 
colonies and rendered them almost independent. For a time 



46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

they were allowed freedom of trade. A scheme of govern- 
ment, called " A Body of Liberties," was enacted in Massa- 
chusetts. Offices were made wholly elective, and were held 
for a year only. Religious restrictions were relaxed. Slavery 
was forbidden, except in the case of prisoners of war, strangers 
publicly sold, persons who sold themselves, or who were con- 
demned to be slaves. 

COLONIAL COMBINATIONS IN NEW ENGLAND. 

41. Maine and New Hampshire were added to 
Massachusetts. The colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New 

, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven formed a 
union for protection against the Indians, against the 
Dutch on the Hudson, and against the French in Canada and 
Acadia. Rhode Island was excluded in consequence of its 
religious doctrines.* This was the first American confed- 
eration. 

42. Religious dissent was still persecuted. Bap- 
tists were seized, fined, and otherwise punished. Quakers 
were whipped, imprisoned, banished. They had their ears 
cut off, their tongues bored w4th hot irons, and four, at least, 
were hanged. These outrages were practised till they were 
arrested by a royal order. Some zeal was shown in the en- 
deavor to convert the Indians to Christianity. John Eliot 
devoted himself for nearly fifty years to this task, and trans- 
lated the Bible into one of the native tongues, which has now 
been long extinct. t 

THE SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND. 

43. The settlement of Rhode Island was unlike 



* Another reason for its exclusion was that Rhode Island denied the jurisdiction of 
Plymouth. The chief cause was its rejection of the civil and religious rule of 
Massachusetts. 

+ Few copies of the work are in existence. It was said, fifty years a^o, that there 
was then "scarcely any living person who can read or understand a single verse in 
it." An example of its uncouthness is furnished in its longest word : " Wutappesit- 
t ukgussonnookwehtuKkquoh " — " kneeling down to him." 



THE SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT 47 

that of any of the other colonies. Roger Williams, after being 
, , driven out of Salem, wandered, for three months of a 
northern winter, through the woods, often without 
guide, or fire, or better shelter than a hollow tree. The sav- 
ages were kind to him. His gentleness impressed their fierce 
natures. He began a new home, which he called Providence. 
He offered it as *' a refuge for persons distressed in con- 
science." The Narragansett chiefs, Canonicus and Mianto- 
nomoh gave him lands. Mrs. Anne Hutchinson and others, 
when expelled from Massachusetts, were invited by him to 
settle in the neighborhood. They bought from the Indians 
the beautiful island of Aq'uiday — the Isle of Peace — and it 
received the name of Rhode Island.* 

44. Roger Williams went to England to obtain a 
charter for the towns of Providence, Newport, and Portsmouth, 

, with the right of governing themselves. A General 
Court had already declared the government to be a 
democracy. Williams succeeded in his mission. A second 
charter was obtained from Charles II., nearly twenty years later ; 
and under this charter Rhode Island was governed for one 
hundred and eighty years. Diversities of religious belief were 
freely tolerated, because Williams maintained that " to pun- 
ish a man for any matters of conscience was persecution." 

THE SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 

45. The Connecticut Valley, in which the Dutch had 
established trading posts, was claimed by England. The Ply- 
mouth Company granted to the Earl of Warwick a strip of ter- 
ritory, one hundred and twenty miles wide, reaching from the 
river of the Narragansetts to the Pacific Ocean. Warwick con- 
veyed this grant to Lord Say and Sele, Lord Brooke, and others. 

^ Under it, John Winthrop the younger, the son of the 

Governor of Massachusetts, built a fort at the mouth 

of the Connecticut River, and called it Saybrook. Next year a 

* The name seems to have been earlier than the date of this purchase. Rhode may 
be r<7<?</^— red— Red Soil, 



48 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

settlement was made at Hartford by the Rev. Mr. Hooker and 
his congregation. They had moved through the forest with 
their famiHes and wagons, and cows and horses. They were 
the first regular band of those New England pioneers who 
have pushed steadily onward till they have reached the mouth 
of the Columbia River — "yearning for other worlds to con- 
quer."* 

A large colony was soon after planted at New Haven by 
emigrants from Massachusetts.! 

46. The Indians were disturbed and alarmed by the 
spread of the new settlements. They were threatened with 

the loss of their hunting grounds, 
their homes, and the graves of their 
fathers. They were also subjected 
to great and continual injustice. 
They were more numerous and more 
warlike in the inland parts of the 

STOCKADED HOUSE. ^ ^1 ^i i i i r j 

country than they had been found 
to be along the coast. They were harassed by the intruders, 
and they harassed them in turn. A passionate and treacher- 
ous warfare occasioned much loss of life on both sides. The 
mother and the child were murdered at the milking-pen. The 
Indian was shot down in cold blood when a chance presented 
itself. The settlers ploughed their fields and harvested their 
grain in reach of their arms. Sentries were placed to give 
warning of danger, while the rest of the laborers worked on 
the farm. 

Shortly to say : there neither man nor maid 
"Was safe afield, whether they wrought or played. 

INDIAN AA^ARS. 

47. The Pequods, dwelling east of the Connecticut River, 






* Mr. Hooker's company sought their new abode, complaining of the crowding of 
the population, as 3,000 emigrants had recently arrived from England. They sold 
their homes to the new-comers, and migrated westward in search of " pastures new." 

t In 1639, Connecticut constituted itself a separate government, and adopted a writ- 
ten constitution— the first in America. 



INDIAN WARS. 



49 



devastated the frontier, killing men, women, and cattle. 
i6?7 ^^^ ^^^ declared against them. Capt. John Mason 
commanded the colonial army, consisting of eighty or 
ninety English and seventy Mohicans {mo-hee'cans)^ under 
their chief, Uncas. The Narragansetts were prevented by 
Roger Williams from joining the Indian league. 




ARMED SETTLERS. 



48. Mason surprised the Pequod encampment. He 

set fire to their wigwams, saying : " We must burn them out." 
His forces encircled the blazing village. Uncas and the In- 
dian allies formed a wider circle beyond. Seven Indians were 
taken, seven escaped, and more than six hundred were 
slaughtered. Two of the English were killed, and sixteen or 



50 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



twenty wounded. The war was prosecuted till the Pequods 
were slain or subdued. The victors appropriated their lands. 

49. The war between the Narragansetts and the 
Mohicans was of equal advantage to the people of Connect- 
icut. The Narragansett chief, Miantonomoh, attacked the 
Mohicans, and was taken prisoner. His fate was referred to 
the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England 
for their decision. By them he was handed over to the mercy 
of his enemies. Uncas, the Mohican, cut him down with his 
tomahawk, carved the living flesh from his shoulder, and ate 
it with savage relish, declaring the flesh of foes to be the 
sweetest of morsels. Ten years later, a war with the Dutch 
and Indians was prevented solely by the refusal of Massachu- 
setts to be governed by the decisions of the New England 
Union. 

50. After the restoration of Charles II., Connecticut re- 
ceived a royal charter, which conjoined New- 
Haven and the other settlements around under a single 

government. The young- 
er Winthrop was named 
Governor. He was elect- 
ed seventeen times suc- 
cessively. When Sir Ed- 
^^mund Andros, the Roy- 
,j. al Governor of 
New England 
under James I., demand- 
ed the surrender of the 
charter, excuses were 
made to delay its de- 
livery till evening. 
While the charter lay on the table for delivery, the candles 
were suddenly extinguished. When they were relighted, the 
charter had disappeared. A copy of the charter was hid- 
den by Capt. Wadsworth in a hollow tree, afterwards knowr 



1662. 



'^rS'^ 




THE CHARTER OAK. 



THE MARYLAND COLONY. ei 

as the " Charter Oak. " * Here it lay concealed till better days 
returned, after the expulsion of James from the English 
throne. 



THE MARYLAND COLONY. 

51. On his return from Virginia, Lord Baltimore re- 
ceived from Charles L a grant of the country between the 
river Potomac and the Atlantic, f He died before the patent 
was made out. His eldest con, Cecil Calvert, succeeded to his 
title and his plans. The territory lay within the limits of 
Virginia, which the king thought had more land than it 
needed. The claims of Virginia produced discord from the 
beginning. 

52. The new colony was designed to be a retreat for 
the Catholics, who were persecuted and oppressed by the 
English laws. It was named Maryland in honor of the Queen, 
Henrietta Maria — herself a Catholic. Lord Baltimore had 
proposed to call it Crescentia. The colonists were allowed free 

, government, exemption from taxation by the mother 

country, and perfect toleration of religious opin- 
ions. Leonard Calvert, brother of Lord Baltimore,^ brought 
over the first colonists in 1633. The village of St. Mary's 
was founded on the river of the same name, twelve miles above 
its junction with the Potomac, where some cleared land was 
bought from the Indians. As the ground was open and ready 
for cultivation, a crop of corn was raised the first year, and 
part of it was sent to New England for sale. It relieved the 

♦ This aged tree stood till 1856, when it was blown down, 

t The condition on which the grant was held was the delivery , annually, of two 
Indian arrows at Windsor Castle. 

%'Y\\c title of Lord Baltimore, from which the large commercial city of Maryland 
receives its name, was derived from the seaport town of Baltimore, in the south-west of 
Ireland, situated a short distance north of Cape Clear. 



52 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

hungry people there from the starvation with which they were 
threatened. 

53. Clayborne, the surveyor of Virginia, had a grant 

of lands and privileges of trade within the territory cut off for 
Maryland. He maintained his claim by arms, and waged a small 
war against Lord Baltimore's people. He was defeated, but 
made his escape to Virginia, whence he was sent to England. 
During the civil war in the mother country, Clayborne excited 
insurrection in Maryland. Calvert retired to Virginia. He re- 
turned and suppressed the petty rebellion. He died the next 
year. 

54. After the execution of Charles I., the Assembly of 
Maryland passed the " Toleration Act," and repeated the 
promise of religious freedom.* These engagements were soon 
broken. The Commissioners appointed by the Long Parlia- 
ment t (Clayborne was one of them) changed the government, 
and placed it in the hands of a Council of Ten. The new 
Assembly, which included many recent Puritan emigrants, de- 
prived the Roman Catholics of all political and religious rights. 
Civil war was the consequence. When peace was restored, 
the proprietary governor X was readmitted to his office. 

55. The Maryland Assembly denied the rights of 
Lord Baltimore's heirs after the death of Cromwell. They 
were confirmed on the reestablishment of the royal authority 
in England. They were enjoyed by the family till William 
in. made the colony a royal province. On the accession of 
the House of Hanover § they were restored to the fourth Lord 
Baltimore, after he had renounced the creed of his fathers. 



* This act, passed in April, 1649, enacted that " no person within this province, pro= 
fessing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be in any ways troubled, molested, or discoun- 
tenanced, for his or her religion, or in the free exercise thereof." 

t The Long Parliament was the English Revolutionary Parliament, which lasted, 
with many interruptions and mutilations, from 3d Nov., 1640, to i6th March, 1660. 

% The proprietary governor was the deputy-governor appointed by the proprietor, 
Lord Baltimore. 

§ The House of Hanover obtained the sovereignty of Great Britain in the person 
of George L, in 1714, and is now represented by Queen Victoria. 



VIRGINIA FROM 1660 TO 1750. 53 

The last Lord Baltimore was a profligate and a spendthrift. 
At his death he bequeathed Maryland to a son, 
'' * Henry Harford. 

56. Maryland was peaceful and prosperous. It grew 
in wealth by the culture and exportation of tobacco, and by 
the trade which tobacco encouraged. It escaped all serious 
danger from the Indians. The capital was transferred to An- 
napolis at the end of the seventeenth century. In the middle 
of the eighteenth, the population amounted to 40,000 whites 
and 60,000 blacks. 



VIRGINIA FROM 1660 TO 1750. 

57. The royal authority was revived in Virginia even 
before Charles II. had been invited to resume the English 
throne. Joy prevailed along the waters of the James River, 
but it was tempered by grave discontents. An act, passed 
under the Commonwealth, compelled the trade of the colonies 
to be carried on in English ships, manned by English sailors, 
and to be conveyed to English harbors. The " Navigation 
Act " was the cause of much future complaint. This statute 
was revised and extended. Another grievance was the lavish 
grant of lands to court favorites. " The Northern Neck," or 
the wedge of land between the Rappahannock and Potomac 
rivers, was bestowed upon Lord Colepepper {ctd-pep'per). 
*' All the dominion of land and water called Virginia " was 
given for thirty years to Lord Colepepper and the Earl of Ar- 
lington. The Assembly protested against such procedures, 
but no redress was obtained. The Virginians, however, were 
thriving, and Virginia planters, on their visits to England, 
dazzled the English with their wealth and extravagance. Ten 
years after the Restoration the population numbered 40,000 ; 
and 1 6, coo hogsheads of tobacco were annually exported. 



54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

58. The first Assembly after the Restoration * 

declared the Church of England to be the State church, and 
nnposed taxes for its support. Old laws against Quakers and 
other dissenters were revived. New laws against them were 
passed. A tax was laid on tobacco to defray the expenses of 
the Government ; and high pay was given to the members of 
the General Assembly. These members had been previously 
elected every two years. The new body, following the late 
example of the Long Parliament in England, protracted its 
existence during fifteen years, till it was ended by the indigna- 
tion of the people. It is not surprising that after the continu- 
•ance of increased excesses for three years a plot was concocted 
for the overthrow of the Government. The leaven of repub- 
licanism, introduced by Puritan emigrants during the rule of 
the Commonwealth, was at work. 

59. The discontent was embittered by real or sup- 
posed danger from the Indians. The Susquehannahs, driven 
southwards by the Senecas, were plundering along the Poto- 
mac. John Washington went to the aid of the settlers. Some 
chiefs, who brought proposals of peace, were murdered. " If 
they had killed my father and my mother," observed Berkeley, 
" yet, if they had come to treat of peace, they ought to have 
gone in peace." The outrage maddened the savages, and they 
pushed their hostilities to the falls of James River. Governor 
Berkeley was accused of neglecting measures of defence.! 
The Government did not even give the people permission to 
defend themselves. This indifference, or neglect, gave occa- 
sion to Bacon's rebellion. 

BACON'S REBELLION. 

60. Nathaniel Bacon was a young man of fortune, 



* The Restoration is the term applied to the reestablishraent of the royal authority 
in England, under Charles II., in 1660. 

t Sir William Berkeley sent out an expedition to explore the interior of the country. 
It crossed the Blue Ridge, but was stopped by the Alleghany. The Governor was 
preparing to lead a second expedition in person when Bacon's rebellion broke out. 



BACON'S REBELLION'. 55 

of education, and of many accomplishments. He had re- 
cently arrived in the colony. He was probably a kinsman of 
the illustrious Francis Bacon,* He was a member of the 
council, as was his uncle of the same name, who designed him 
for his heir. Being refused a commission for the Indian war, 
, , he marched against the savages with no commission 
but his sword. He defeated them, and retired to his 
plantation. He was declared a rebel in his absence. The 
anger of the people compelled the summoning of a new Assem- 
bly. Bacon was elected one of the delegates.f He asked 
pardon for any misdeeds committed by him, and was admitted 
to his seat in the Legislature. His commission was still with- 
held. He withdrew secretly from Jamestown, and returned 
at the head of five hundred men. Berkeley met him, bared 
his breast, and cried out : " Fair mark ! Shoot ! " The dis- 
turbances, however, were so threatening, that he was induced 
to grant the commission. The spirit of coming revolution was 
already abroad in the land. 

61. Bacon marched against the Indians again. 

Berkeley, a second time, proclaimed him a rebel, and prepared 
to subdue him by arms. Being insufficiently supported. Sir 
William sought refuge on the further shore of Chesapeake Bay. 
Bacon then seized upon Jamestown, and remoulded the Gov- 
ernment. Having done so, he attacked the Pamunkeys, per- 
haps without sufficient cause. He next proceeded against the 
main body of the Indians near the present site of Richmond.^ 
He inflicted a terrible slaughter upon them. The victory was 



* Francis Bacon (1 561-1626) was Lord High Chancellor of England, and father of 
the Baconian Philosophy, or modern Inductive Science. He was one of the mem- 
bers of the Virginia Company, and was intimately associated with the English pro- 
jects of colonization under James I. 

+ On his way down the river. Bacon was encountered by an armed vessel, and was 
arrested by the sheriff. He was taken before the Governor, who accosted him with 
the inquiry: " Have you forgot to be a gentleman ? " Bacon replied : " No, may it 
please your Honor." " Then," said Berkeley, " I will take your parole." 

X " Bacon's Quarter," near the city, and '' Bloody Run," three miles below it, are 
supposed to mark Bacon's plantation and Bacon's fight. 



56 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

succeeded by new hazards. Berkeley had returned to James- 
town. Bacon invested the place, repelled a vigorous assault, 
captured the town and burnt it.* Berkeley escaped down the 
river, having been driven off by the cannon which were 
brought to bear upon his flotilla. 

62. This success produced no enduring result 
Troops arrived from England to sustain the royal Government.f 
The rebellion was soon ended by the death of Bacon, who 
contracted a fatal disease by exposure in the swamps. A few 
of his followers escaped. Twenty-three were executed. Berke- 
ley's severity rendered him odious to the people whom he had 
governed for a whole generation. He went to England to give 
an explanation of the late unfortunate events. He did not 
survive his return. The king would not receive him. '* The 
old fool !" said Charles, " he has taken away more lives in that 
naked country than I for the murder of my father. "J Berk- 
eley's harsh suppression of this provincial rebellion, and his re- 
joicing at the absence of schools and printing-presses, have 
prevented his obtaining due credit for the prosperity of Vir- 
ginia under his twenty-eight years' rule. 

63. This rebellion deprived Virginia of the liberal 
charter intended for it. Lord Colepepper became Governor 
as well as proprietor. He was greedy and exacting. He was 
removed from the Government, and surrendered most of his 
other privileges to the king. Virginia became once more a 
royal province. It could turn out 15,000 men for military ser- 
vice ; but heavy taxes and the low price of tobacco kept it 
complaining of poverty, 

64. After the cruel suppression of Monmouth's re- 

* On his rapid and unexpected approach, he feathered from the neighborhood the 
ladies of the famiHes of the ofificials and prominent men within the town Releasing 
one, to communicate the intelligence, he intrenched and fortified himself during the 
moonlit night. The besieged were afraid to fire, lest they might injure the ladies in 
the opposing camp. Next morning, an unsuccessful assault was made by Berkeley. 

t In a small llect under Sir John Berry. 

X This anecdote is doubtful. Berkeley's treatment has been otherwise represented. 
This rebellion cost the colony ^500,000. 



BA CON' s rebellion: g y 

bellion in England,* many political convicts were transported 
to Virginia, and were sold to the planters. They brought from 
fifty to seventy dollars a head. When Louis XIV. renewed 
the persecution of the Huguenots, or French Protestants,t ^ 
number of them came over. They were a valuable addition 
to the population. 

65. Francis Nicholson, the first Governor under William 
III., took active measures to establish the college which 
had been so long contemplated. Funds were subscribed 
by the king, the queen, the bishops, and many other per- 
sons of distinction. Thus, the College of William and Mary 

, was founded. It was the second college estabhshed 

* in the English colonies in America. Nicholson re- 
moved the seat of government from Jamestown to Williams- 
burgh, which he laid out in the shape of the letter W, in honor 
of King William. Sixty years later, the best public buildings 
in the English provinces were found there. 

66. Virginia continued to increase in prosperity 
under the governors and deputy-governors sent out from Eng- 
land. None of them deserved higher regard than Alexander 
Spotswood, who had fought with distinction at Blenheim. | He 
carried into effect the project of Sir William Berkeley, crossed 
the Blue Ridge, and descended into the rich and beautiful 

Valley of Virginia. To commemorate the expedition, 
he gave to each of his companions a golden horse- 
shoe, and instituted *' the Tramontane Order, or Knights of 
the Golden Horseshoe."§ At Germanna, on the Rappahan- 
nock, he set up the first furnace for smelting iron that was 



* The Duke of Monmouth, one of the sons of Charles II., excited a rebellion against 
James II. He was defeated, captured, and executed in July, 1685. 

t The Huguenots were driven out of France by the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes in 1685. This revocation repealed Henry IV. 's decree for the protection of 
the Protestants. 

X Blenheim was the scene of the Duke of Marlborough's first great victory. It 
was gained in 1704, over the French and Bavarians, 

^ Some of these badges arc still preserved. 



58 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

established in America.* Trade was rendered more secure 
by the defeat and death of the pirate Theach, or Blackbeard, 
after a desperate fight in Pamlico Sound. On the outbreak 
of the Spanish war, Spotswood left his retreat at Germanna, 

to take command of the colonial troops, but died at 
1730. . . . ... 

Annapolis before sailmg. The Virginia forces em- 
ployed against Carthagena were commanded by Gooch, the 
new Governor. He held the Government twenty-two years, 
and returned to England soon after the close of the great war 
of the Austrian Succession.f 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES AFTER 
THE RESTORATION. 

67. The union of the colonies of New England gave 
them security and strength. Their spirit of independence was 
displayed by their opposition to the commissioners of Charles 
II., and by their welcome of Whalley, Goffe, and Dixwell, the 
regicides. J; These fugitives first came to Boston ; but went 
to New Haven as a safer refuge. They were often in great 
danger. On one occasion they escaped by hiding under a 
bridge, while their pursuers crossed it above their heads. At 
last they concealed themselves at Hadley. The village was 
surrounded by Indians in King Philip's War. A venerable 
stranger placed himself at the head of the alarmed inhabitants, 
and led them to victory. He vanished after the battle. This 
was supposed to have been Goffe. The most dreadful of In- 
dian wars had broken out ; but New England numbered 60,000 
people, and the Indians were at no time numerous. 

* The progress of Virginia in industry and commerce is manifested by the exporta- 
tion in 1730 of <o tons of iron, 3,000 pounds of copper ore, 300 pounds of raw silk, 
300 pounds of hemp, and 150 quintals of beeswax. A quintal is a weight of 112 lbs., 
or 100 lbs., according to the scale employed. 

t The war of the Austrian Succession was the war against Maria Theresa of Aus- 
tria, begun by Frederick II. of Prussia. It lasted from 17.50 to 1748. 

t The regicides were the members of the extraordinary Court of Justice which had 
tried and condemned Charles I. 



KING PHILIP'S WAR. 



59 



KINO PHILIP'S WAR-167S. 

68. Massasoit had through life faithfully observed his 
treaty with the Plymouth Pilgrims. His younger son, Philip of 
Pokanoket, or Mount Hope, succeeded him, and was the chief 
of seven hundred Wampanoags. He was accused of plotting 
the destruction of the whites. The informer was murdered. 
Three of Philip's tribe were seized, tried, and hanged by the 
Plymouth people. Philip attacked the settlements, and there 
was war. The forces of Plymouth, joined by those of Massa- 
chusetts, finding Mount Hope abandoned, advanced through 
the country of the Narragan setts, to the swamp of Pocasset, 
whither the Wampanoags were said to have retreated. Philip 
broke through the lines around him, and drew other tribes into 
the war. Several towns v/ere burnt ; more were attacked. 
Hadley was saved in the manner already described. During 
two seasons the borders were devastated with all the horrors of 
savage warfare. Cruelty and daring were vain against supe- 
rior numbers, superior arms, superior resources, and superior 
intelligence. Philip 
was defeated. He was 
hunted from place to 
place, deserted b y 
his allies, and at 
length killed by one of 
his own followers. His 
wife and child had 
been previously taken. 
The boy, only nine 
years of age, was sold 
in Bermuda as a slave. 

69. Canon'chet, the 

chief of the Narragan- 

sctts, was charged 

with having given aid king philip. 

to Philip. A thousand men marched through storm and snow, 




6o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and surprised his camp in Rhode Island. It was taken after 
a stubborn defence. A thousand Indians were slain, six hun- 
dred wigwams were burnt, and many savages were roasted in 
the flames. In the spring Canonchet was captured and was 
put to death. The Wampanoags and the Narragansetts — the 
friends of the early colonists — were heard of no more. Thir- 
teen towns had been destroyed, and six hundred lives lost, on 
the side of the New Englanders. 

70. Difficulties occurred between Massachusetts and 
the English Crown. Charles II. declared the charter of 

,p the colony void. James II. assailed the privileges of 
, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The charters were 
* resumed on the revolution in England, and the Gov- 
ernor, Andros, was seized, and .sent home for trial. King Wil- 
liam did not permit Massachusetts to return to its old system. 
A new charter, forbidding religious tests for political purposes, 
and reserving a veto on the provincial legislation, was bestowed 
upon that colony. Plymouth and Maine were annexed to it. 
These changes were distasteful. One still more odious was 
the appointment of the Governor and the higher officials by 
the king. 

KING WILLIAM'S V/AR.- 1689-1697. 

71. Hostilities between England and France in 

Europe produced war in New England. It began with an at- 
tack on Dover. Schenectady, in New York, was surprised in 
the night by French and Indians. The inhabitants were 
slaughtered and the town burnt. The whole northern frontier 
was in danger. Delegates from the provinces met at New 
York to devise means of protection. An expedition against 
Montreal failed. Sir William Phipps made an attack by sea 
upon Port Royal, took it, and plundered other places in Acadia. 
He sailed from Boston against Quebec, but achieved nothing. 
These expeditions drained Massachusetts of money, and left 
the troops clamorous for their pay. Bills of credit* were is- 

* Government promises to pay the sums of money specified on the bills. 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 6l 

sued to defray the expenses incurred. These soon sank to 
half their professed value. Thus was begun the endless issue 
of paper money in the colonies. 

72. Sir William Phipps, a colonist of humble birth and of 
little education, had fished up a million of dollars from some 
Spanish wrecks in the Carribbean Sea. He was appointed 
Governor of Massachusetts, and brought the new charter from 
England. 

THE SALEM AA^ITCHCRAFT.— 1692. 

73. The delusions of the Salem witchcraft gave nota- 
bility to the administration of Phipps. Parris, the minister of 
Salem, accused his Indian servant, Tituba, of bewitching his 
daughter and his niece, children of nine and eleven years of 
age. Tituba was whipped, confessed her guilt, and accused 
others. The accused made further accusations. Arrests, 
trials, and tortures were multiplied. Those who maintained 
their innocence were hanged. Those who admitted their guilt, 
for the most part, escaped.* Twenty persons were capitally 
punished ; more than fifty were tortured into confession. 
Numbers were confined in jail. The trials were at last stopped 
by the king.f 

QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.— 1702-1713. 

74. The War of the Spanish Succession in Europe 

is known as Queen Anne's War in the history of the English 
colonies in America. The French and their Indian allies fell 
upon the frontier settlements of New England. The villages 
in Maine were desolated. Deerfield, in Massachusetts^ was 



* Giles Cory, an old man, eiphty years of ajje, was pressed to death between boards 
for rcfusinfj to plead to the accusation. The refusal was in order to save his property, 
as it would be forfeited if he were convicted of the felony. This is the only instance 
in British America of this punishment— the last in the history of English law. 

t Such delusions had prevailed everywhere. An act was passed in Enfjland, in the 
first year of James I., against witches. The acts against witches were not repealed 
till 1736. A royal edict against them was issued in France in 16:^2. Witch trials took 
place in Sweden in 1670. In the same year the younger Casaubon published in Eng- 
land a work asserting the reality of witchcraft. 



62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

surprised at midnight by enemies who marched through the 
snow, and who entered the fort over the drifts banked against 
the paHsades. Forty-seven of its people were killed, and .one 
hundred and twenty prisoners were dragged away to Canada. 
A fruitless attempt was made from New England to conquer 
that province. The Indian villages along the Penobscot and 
the St. Croix were destroyed by Colonel Church, with five 
hundred men from Massachusetts. Colonel Nicholson took 
Port Royal, in Acadia, and changed its name to Annapolis, in 
honor of the queen. 

75. Grievous burdens were imposed upon Nev/ 
England by this war, but prosperity w^aits upon an indus- 
trious and intelligent people. Bishop Berkeley, who 
was said to possess "all the virtues under heaven," 

visited Rhode Island, and spent three years near Newport. 
While contemplating this visit and forecasting the destinies of 
America, he wrote : 

Westward the course of empire takes its way ; 

The four first acts already passed, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; 

Time's noblest offspring is his last. 

Already the desire of independence might be discerned in 
New England and in other of her sister colonies. The desire 
increased with increasing strength and wealth. These grew 
with population and tranquillity. Peace was made with the 
Eastern Indians. Quiet prevailed and progress was quickened 
till the next war.* 

KING GEORGE'S ^^^AR.- 1744- 1748. 

76. The War of the Austrian Succession produced 
violent hostilities between the English and French colonies, 
which faced each other in America. An English frontier gar- 

* Great religious excitement prevailed in New England, between 1735 and 1742. 
It was designated " the great revival," and " the new light." The pious fervor was 
much increased by the eloquent preaching of George Whitefield, who visited that 
part of the country during the period. 



NEIV YORK. 63 

rison was seized by the French, and imprisoned in the strong for- 
tress of Louisburg. Colonel Pepperell besieged it with a large 
force, and captured it in forty-nine days. Peace in Europe 
did not terminate the colonial warfare. Nova Scotia was con- 
quered by an expedition from Boston. The Acadian 
peasants, whose conduct had been suspicious, were 
torn from their homes,* placed on shipboard, and dispersed 
among the English colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia. 
Many found a more welcome refuge in the French province of 
Louisiana. 

At this time the New England colonies contained about 
360,000 white inhabitants, and carried on an extensive and 
profitable trade with the West Indies and with Europe. 



NEW YORK. 



77. The Governors of New York, after its conquest 
from the Dutch, were appointed by the Duke of York, 

the new proprietor. Many were dissolute, greedy, and arbi- 
trary. All met with bitter opposition, and with severe censure. 
The population was composed of various nationalities,! and 
the larger part consisted of the recently conquered Dutch set- 
tlers, who submitted reluctantly to a strange rule. A treaty 
was made by Governor Carteret with the Five Nations, at Fort 
Orange, or Albany. They were converted into faithful friends, 
and formed a strong defence against the French in Canada. 

78. Popular discontent prevented effectual resist- 
, ance, when a Dutch fleet entered the harbor, during 

the war between England and Holland. The city, 



* Longfellow's graceful poem, " Evangeline," is founded upon the story of the 
Acadian exiles. 

+ The population was of origin so various that eighteen different languages were 
said to be in use. It was reported to be " the most polygenous of all the British 
provinces." There was constant dissension between the English and Dutch inhabi- 
tants. 



64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

llic fort, and the province surrendered at once, but were 
restored to England on the reestablishment of peace. A 
new charter, extending the territory, was granted to the Duke 
of York. His deputy, Sir Edmond Andros, embraced under 
his rule the country between the Hudson and the Delaware, 
but failed in his efforts to add to New York the tract along the 
west bank of the Connecticut River. 

79. The people continued to complain, and had rea- 
son to complain. Under a new Governor they were allowed 

,- to elect a Legislative Assembly. This assembly en- 
acted a " Charter of Liberties." It was set aside 
when the Duke of York became King James H. On his 
dethronement, Jacob Leisler, the commander of the militia, 
seized ^he fort at New York, and set up a government. A 
Governor, appointed by William HL, arrived. Leisler and his 
son-in-law were tried, condemned, and executed. 

80. The people were restless under good governors 
and under bad gt)vernors. Discords were frequent. Edward 
Hyde, Earl of Cornbury, the cousin of Queen Anne, made 
himself odious by persecuting dissenters, by extorting bribes, 
by embezzling public moneys, and by other tyrannical con- 
duct. He was removed on the petition of the Assemblies of 
New York and New Jersey. 

The commerce of New York was already of much value. 
It was annoyed by the depredations of pirates, of whom Capt. 
Kidd was the most notorious. Kidd was captured, and was 
hanged in London. He was sujiposed to have buried a large 
amount of gold somewhere on the shore of Long Island. This 
hidden treasure is still sometimes sought by persons more eager 
for fortune than steady work. 

8t. The city of New York was plundered by slaves, 

and a i hurch and some houses were burnt. A conspiracy 
among the negroes was suspected, and severe punishment was 
inflicted. Thirteen were burnt, eighteen were hanged, and 
seventy-one were removed from the colony. 



NE IV JERSE V AND DELA WARE. 6^ 

82. A Congress was held at Albany at the beginning 
of the French war in America. It was composed of 
delegates from the several colonies, and was gathered 
to strengthen the league with the Iroquis, or Six Na- 
tions, which had formerly been The Five Nations.* Benja- 
min Franklin presented a plan for a Colonial Union. It was 
rejected by Connecticut, but adopted by all the other Provin- 
cial Delegations. It was deemed hazardous by the British 
Government, and was dropped. It was an anticipation of the 
Union of twenty years later, by which American Independence 
was gained. Such a measure had been proposed long before 
by William Penn and several other persons of sagacity. 



NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE. 

83. Charles II. had enlarged the grant of New York 
to his brother by adding to it the country on the shores of 
Delaware Bay and along the eastern bank of the Delaware 
River. The Duke of York conveyed New Jersey — the tract 
between the Hudson and the Delaware — to Lord Berkeley and 
Lord Carteret. Elizabethtown was settled by people from 
Long Island. Population was invited by liberal offers, by the 
promise of representative government, and by freedom from 
any taxation but such as might be imposed by the Colonial 
Assembly. Seventy-five acres of land were also promised for 
every " stout slave " brought in. The experiment did not suc- 
ceed, for the private gain of the proprietors was its chief ob- 
ject. One governor was deposed, and the colony was re- 
covered by the Dutch on the surrender of New York. 

84. Lord Berkeley sold his share of the Province to 
a Quaker, who assigned it to William Penn and two other 
Quakers. The colony was divided into East and West Jersey, 
the latter became Penn's. The Quakers, suffering from harsh 

♦They became the Six Nations by the reception and incorporation of the Tuscan 
roras, on their expulsion from North Carolina in 1712. 



66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

treatment in England, hastened to form a settlement in 
,^ America. An Assembly was held at Salem and 
adopted a body of laws, entitled " Fundamental Con- 
stitutions." East Jersey was purchased, and fresh cargoes of 
Quakers came to Quakerland. The Covenanters,* fleeing 
from cruel persecution in Scotland, also sought here tolera- 
tion and quiet, and swelled the number of the inhabitants. 

85. A more hopeful enterprise attracted the regards of 
the Quaker chiefs. The Jerseys were surrendered to the 
Crown, and were placed under the control of the Governor of 
New York. After forty years of union they were again sep- 
arated from it, and formed into the Royal Province of New 
Jersey, which grew and throve in unbroken peace, for there 
were no Indian dangers to be encountered. 



SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.— 1682. 

86. Penn desired a wider range for his " holy expe- 
riment " than the Jerseys afforded. George Fox, the founder 
of the sect, had visited America, which promised such a re- 
treat for his followers as he was solicitous of obtaining. Penn, 
his disciple, sought to give full effect to this desire. He pro- 
cured from Charles II. a grant of the country west of the Dela- 
ware. The grant was soon made to include " The Territo- 
ries," now forming the State of Delaware. The new domain 
was called Sylvania (woodland), which the king changed to 
Pennsylvania (Penn's woodland). 

87. A large body of emigrants was sent out. Settle- 
ment was invited by offering ten acres of land for a dollar. 
Penn visited the country himself, and instituted a government. 

* The Covenanters were enthusiastic Scotch Presbyterians, who resisted the at- 
tempt of Charles II. to suppress their form of religion. They met for worship in the 
woods and fields and in remote places. They were hunted by Highlanders and 
dragoons, and were mercilessly cut down. Their cruel treatment and stubborn re- 
sistance furnish the subject of one of Sir Walter Scott's best novels.' 



THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



67 



He was welcomed by the Swedes on Delaware Bay, by the 
dwellers in the Jerseys, and by the settlers on his recent grant. 
He made a treaty of friendship with the Indians under an elm 
tree, which was venerated till it was blown down at the begin- 
ning of the present century.* He did not seize lands, but paid 
for them, though the payment was trifling. The savages as- 
sured the " Quaker King " that they would " live in love with 
William Penn and his children as long as the moon and sun 
should shine." The promise was, in the main, kept with en- 
tire fidelity. On this visit Penn laid out the city of Philadel- 
phia (Brotherly Love), between the Schuylkill and the Dela- 
ware rivers. He remained two years in America, and left a 
population of 7,000 people in the new domain when he re- 
turned to England. 

88. "The Territories," or "Three Lower Coun- 
ties," were lost to Pennsylvania. They were claimed by 
both Penn and Lord 
Baltimore. The Eng- 
lish Committee of 
Trade and Planta- 
tions declared that 
they were not in- 
cluded in the grant 
of Maryland. A sep- 
a r a t e government 
was conferred upon , 
them. A dispute 1% 
arose also in regard \\\ 
to the southern ^\ 
boundary of Pennr 
sylvania. It was set- 
tled long afterwards 




WILLIAM PENN. 



* The Wampum Belt which was delivered by the Lcnni-Lenape to Penn, as the title- 
deed for the lands granted at " The Great Treaty " of Shackaraaxon, is in the posses- 
sion of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, to which it was presented, in 1857, by 
Mr. Granville Jones Penn, a descendant of the original proprietor. 



68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

by two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. The 
boundary determined by them is famiHarly known as Mason 
and Dixon's Line, and has been of grave poHtical importance.* 
89. Penn returned to America after an absence of 
fifteen years. He allowed Delaware (the Lower Counties) 
to have an Assembly of its own. He was recalled to England 
by a design entertained for the abolition of all proprietary gov- 
ernments. He died in the Fleet prison, overwhelmed with 
debt incurred on account of his colony. f An attack of pa- 
ralysis had prevented his selling it to the Crown. It thus 
descended to his heirs. Their ownership lasted till the Rev- 
olution.! 



NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.— 1629-1763. 

90. The desire of the English for American posses- 
sions was inflamed by the successful establishment of the 
colonies of Virginia and New Plymouth. A vast territory on 
the southern border of Virginia was granted to Sir Robert 
Heath, but the civil war occurred in England before any set- 
, . tlement was made. At the Restoration, Charles II. 
regranted the country to Lord Chancellor Hyde (Earl 
of Clarendon), Sir William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, and 
other favorites. Two years afterwards the limits of the grant 
were extended on the west to the Pacific. 



* Mason and Dixon were English surveyors, and performed the work in 1763. 
They ran the line from the north-east corner of Maryland 244 miles to the west. They 
were then interrupted by Indians. The 34 miles remaining were completed in 1782 
by Colonel Alexander McLean, of Pennsylvania, and Joseph Neville, of Virginia, 

t William Penn (i;'>44-i7i8) was the son of Sir William Penn, an admiral under the 
Commonwealth and under Charles II. He attached himself to the Quakers while a 
student at Oxford, and was expelled for non-conformity when only sixteen years of 
age. He entered on the study of law, but was driven from London by the plague. 
He was for some time an itinerant preacher. On the death of his father he inherited 
a large estate. The rest of his life and his entire fortune were devoted to colonization 
\n America. 

X The State of Pennsylvania voted Penn's heirs a compensation of |>55o,coo, and the 
British Government gave thera a pension of $20,000 a year. 



NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. gp 

91. The new colony was called Carolina, after 
Charles, the king. Its northern frontier was within the 
boundaries assigned to Virginia. It had been explored at an 
early date under the authority of the Government at James- 
town. Some settlements were made in what was designated 
Southern Virginia : by Virginians on Albemarle Sound, and 
by Puritans from New England on the Cape Fear River. 
Under the new charter, William Drummond, a Scotchman, 
soon after prominent in Bacon's rebellion, was appointed by 
Sir William Berkeley Governor of the Albemarle settlements. 
He gave them a simple constitution, and called an assembly at 
Edentown. The New England colony on the Cape Fear was 
soon abandoned by most of its members. Other immigrants 
came from New England and the Bermudas, and settled in the 
Albemarle neighborhood. Eight hundred from Barbadoes 
found abodes on the Cape Fear. 

92. Lord Clarendon and his partners were states- 
men as well as courtiers. They hoped to avoid the losses and 
failures which had attended previous colonial adventures. 
They set the keen and scheming Earl of Shaftesbury to the task 
of preparing a plan of government. He employed in the work 
his friend and guest, the celebrated philosopher, John Locke. 

, A " Grand Model " was produced, which was alto- 
* gether unsuited for the woods and swamps, and for a 
scant, poor, and scattered people. There were to be three 
ranks of nobles : landgraves with 48,000 acres of land ; caciques 
(ka-seeks^ with 24,000, and barons with 12,000. All power was 
placed in their hands, subject to the control of the eight pro- 
prietors. The Church of England was declared to be the 
State religion, contrary to the advice of Locke. The cumbrous 
plan was never put into full operation. It was renounced after 
twenty-two years of failure.* 
.93. William Sayle appeared in Ashley River as Gov- 

* A small volume of 75 leaves, bound in vellum, contains this *' first set," and is in 
the handwritmg of Locke, and full of corrections and notes by \i\.m..— Report on thf 
Sha/tsbury Papers^ by the Keeper 0/ the Records. 



70 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ernor under "The Grand Model," and brought with him 
three ships. Provisional governments were allowed to the Al- 
bemarle and Clarendon settlements, on Albemarle Sound and 
Cape Fear. Their remoteness precluded any close connection 
with tlie more i^outhern plantation. Thus the two States of 
North and South Carolina came to be formed ultimately out 
of the Clarendon grant. 

94. Disputes, disturbances, and insurrections har- 
assed the northern colony for many years. The southern 
or Carteret colony was soon in a flourishing condition. Violent 
divisions occurred there on the meeting of the first Legislature. 
Peojile of diverse race and creed, and habits and fortune, 
could not dwell in harmony under the restraints of the pro- 
prietary rule. Dutch from the Low Countries and from New 
York, and Huguenots expelled from France settled on the 
Ashley, the Santee, and the Edisto. Scotch came to Port 
Royal Island, and dissenters from Somersetshire were estab- 
lished in their neighborhood by Humphrey Blake, the brother 
and heir of the great admiral of the Commonwealth. Li sub- 
se(iuent years came Moravians, and Swiss, and Irish, and Ger- 
mans from the Rhine. The swamps along the Ashley were 
turned to good account in the raising of cattle. On the point 

.f^ of land between this river and the Cooper was founded 
the city of Charleston, so named after Charles II. of 
England. 

95. The Carolinas prospered in spite of constant dis- 
cords. They were harassed by Indian and Spanish assaults, 
for Spain claimed the southern districts as part of Florida. 
Smugglers and pirates were harbored at Charleston, which grew 
rich by the illicit trade with them. In the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, twelve hundred men, partly Indians, 
marched against St. Augustine, and took it from the Spaniards. 
In return, Charleston was threatened by a fleet of French and 
Spanish vessels. They were driven off. 

96. Greater dangers were experienced from the In- 



GEORGIA, 



71 



dians. The Tuscaroras and Corees attacked the Albemarle 
colony, and massacred one hundred and thirty Ger- 

1*711. •" "^ 

mans m a single night. The Tuscaroras were crushed 
the following year by a force from the South. A remnant of 
them found refuge in the North with the Five Nations, by 
whom they were adopted as a sixth member of their confed- 
eration. Other Indians took up the hatchet. The southern 
frontier was ravaged by a sudden inroad of Ycmassees on the 
Savannah. They were joined by the Catawbas, Chcrokees, 
and Creeks. Governor Craven pursued them through the 
dreary cypress swamps, routed them at Salkehatchie {sol- 
ketch'e), and drove them to Florida. 

97. Church controversies were added to other trou- 
bles, and to the distress caused by the expense of the Indian 
wars. An effort to enforce the Anglican system* only occa- 
sioned discontent and wrangling. The people were estranged 
from the proprietors. Their government was rejected. 

' ^* After ten years of angry strife, the rights of all but one 
were sold to the king. The Carolinas, divided into north and 
south, became royal provinces. 

They now made more rapid advances than they had ever 
made before. Rice was introduced from Madagascar before 
the end of the seventeenth century. Cotton was cultivated in 
the first year of the eighteenth. Indigo proved a lucrative 
crop. Four hundred thousand pounds of the dye-stuff were 
exported before the close of the French and Indian war, of 
which an account will shortly be given.f 



GEORGIA.— 1732-1756. 

98. Carolina was exposed to attack on the west, 
along the whole course of the Savannah River. Spain looked 

* The Anfflican system is the ecclesiastical establishment of the Episcopal Church 
as it exists in England— as a Slate Church. 
t Three thousand and twenty-five hogsheads of rice were imported into London 



72 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

upon the country as hers, and upon the EngHsh as intruders. 
When the CaroHnas were transferred to the British Crown, 
17-^2 ^^^^^ disputed territory was granted to General Ogle- 
thorpe and other trustees, for a term of twenty-one 
years. It was to be held in trust for the poor, and was de- 
signed as an asylum for the destitute and miserable. The 
reigning king in England was George II., and the province was 
in consequence called Georgia. 
99. Oglethorpe* was a soldier, who had fought with dis- 
tinction, and had served under 
Prince Eugene at the siege of 
Belgrade. He was moved by 
the sorrows and the sufferings 
of the British poor, and sought, 
by the same measure, to relieve 
them of their misery, the coun- 
try of their support, and to en- 
large and strengthen the Eng- 
lish colonies in America. He 
') conducted the emigrants him- 




^Ju^f 



GENERAL OGLETHORPE. Self. The .first Settlement was 

made on the Savannah River, where the city of Savannah now 
Stands. t Each male settler received twenty-five acres 
'^^' of land on condition of military service. This land he 
could not sell. It descended to his heirs with the same obli- 
gation. Negro slavery and the use of rum were prohibited. 
These regulations, however, could not be maintained. 
100. Oglethorpe went back to England on behalf of 

from Carolina in May, 1730 ; and in 1733 so much was shipped to Spain and Portugal 
as nearly to stop the trade in that article with Venice. 

The cotton exported about that time was almost sufficient to satisfy the require- 
ments of the English manufacture. 

* James Edward Oglethorpe (1698-1785) was from thesouth of England. He served 
as aide-de-camp on the staff of Prince Eugene. He was under the Duke of Cumber- 
land in the second Jacobite Rebellion. He was offered the chief command in Amer- 
ica, in 1775. 

t At the Indian village of Yamacraw, where John Musgrove, a Carolina trader, 
married to the Muscogee Princess Mary, had been established for seven years. 



GEORGIA. 



73 



his colony. On his return, he brought back three hundred 
additional settlers, more than half of them German Protest- 
ants. The Wesleys,* who afterwards founded the Methodist 
denomination, accompanied him. Whitefield \ twice visited 
the colony. Oglethorpe went a second time to England, and 
returned with a regiment of six hundred soldiers, to be employed 
against the Spaniards. He began the war by an attack on St. 
Augustine. The Spaniards, in retaliation, invaded Georgia, 
captured a fort on the Altamaha (pl-ta-ma-haw), and spread 
dismay around. They were completely outgeneralled by 
Oglethorpe, and withdrew in haste. So many complaints were 
made against his rule, that he was summoned home, to be 
tried by a court-martial. He was acquitted with honor, but 
never revisited America. He lived two years beyond the close 
of the American Revolution. 

loi. Civil government was instituted on the departure 
of Oglethorpe. Discords continued to prevail till the colony 
was taken into the hands of the king. Prosperity had been 
prevented by unwise restraints. The exclusion of negro 
slavery was chiefly complained of. A constitution like that of 
Carolina was accorded to the province ; and Georgia ad- 
vanced more rapidly than even her thriving neighbor. 

102. By the middle of the eighteenth century the strip 
of country from the Penobscot to the Altamaha, and between 
the mountains and the Atlantic coast, was occupied by active, 
industrious, daring communities under English rule. These 
were growing daily in all the elements of wealth. The total 
population was about a million, and the value of the exports 
reached five millions of dollars. J 



* The Wcslcys were John (1703-1791) and Charles (1707-1788). John Wesley came 
as a missionary to the Indians ; Charles as Oglethorpe's secretary. 

t George Whitefield (1714-1770) came to Savannah in 1737, and a second time in 
1739. He founded an orphan house there in 1740. He made seven voyages to Amer- 
ica, and excited much enthusiasm by his preaching. He died at Newburyport, Mass. 

X This is a very rough and uncertain estimate. The population was supposed to be 
914,000 in 1751, and 1,165,000, besides 200,000 negroes, in 1754. 
4 



74 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



THE GREAT FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
— 1754-1763. 

103. The English in North America were not yet se- 
cure. They had struggled through many difficulties and dan- 
gers. They were now threatened with a more serious danger 
than any that they had overcome. The Indians had been 
urged and aided by the French in their ravages along the 
northern front. The northern colonies had retaliated by the 
conquest of Acadia, and by assaults on other settlements. The 
French losses in the East were amply made up by their ac- 
quisitions in the West. They had won the vast valleys of the 
St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes. They 
hemmed the English within the long, narrow tract between 
the AUeghanies and the Atlantic seaboard.* The English felt 
the need and nursed the desire of broader possessions. A 
conflict for supremacy, which was a strife for existence, was 
unavoidable. 

NEW FRANCE. 

104. France had gained her extensive American empire 
mainly by the zeal, the enterprise, and the pious energy of Jesuit 
missionaries. These earnest fathers had explored the upper 
course of the St. Lawrence, discovered the great inland seas, 
and navigated the Mississippi. Marquette (;«^r--^^/') and Joliet 
{zhol'c-Ci) descended the Wisconsin to its junction with the 

, Father of Waters, and followed the mighty river to 

the mouth of the Arkansas. La Salle passed down 
the Great River to its entrance into the gulf, claimed the un- 
known valley for France, and named it Louisiana, after the 
*' Great Monarch," Louis XIV. 

105. La Salle was commissioned to occupy and gov- 
ern the newly discovered region. Spain had an earlier title to 



* In Colbert's constitution of the French West India Company, in 1664, the grant 
had been " of all Canada down to and behind Virginia and Florida," 



FRENCH AND ENGLISH HOSTILITIES. 75 

it, on account of the wanderings of De Soto and Coronado. 
La Salle was murdered by his own men in Texas, while en- 
deavoring to return to it. He had missed the obscure mouths 
of the Mississippi, and was roaming about in the wide prairies, 
vainly seeking to reach the shores of that river. Other at- 
tempts at French settlement were made. Little success, or 
promise of success, attended them for many years. New 
Orleans was founded by the Mississippi Company, 
' ^* under the direction of John Law.* Hostilities broke 
out with the Natchez and the Chickasaws ; but no serious 
opposition was encountered by the French in their occupation 
of Louisiana. Three millions of dollars were expended in the 
adventure before a firm foothold was secured. 

HOSTILITIES BETNA^EEN THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH. 

106. Europe obtained peace, but not America, by 

the close of King George's War, or the War of the Austrian 
Succession. The French and English were too violently op- 
posed to each other on the Western Continent to permit quiet 
to be restored there. The war continued to be waged be- 
tween their American colonies. 

107. French forts were established on the Upper 
Ohio to prevent the English from spreading westwards. The 
Governor of Virginia sent George Washington, a young man 

not yet twenty-two years of age, to demand the with- 
drawal of the French. In two months of winter, he 
performed the difficult journey through the wilderness, and 
brought back a polite refusal from the French commander. 

The Ohio Company, a Virginia land association, built a fort 
where the Alleghany and Monongahcla rivers unite, and form 
the Ohio. It was captured by the French, and received the 



* John Law (1681-1729) was a Scotchman. He cstabiishcd a Land Bank in Scot- 
land. It failed. Being outlawed, he pained the favor of Louis XIV., and setup a 
bank at Paris. This bank received the grant of Louisiana. It was made the Royal 
Bank of France in 1718. In 1720 Law was appointed Controller-general of Finances. 
The " Mississippi bubble " burst. He fled from the furious mob, and died in poverty 
at Venice. 



76 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



name of Fort Du Quesne {du-kane). Washington returned 
too late to save it, but surprised the French at the Great 
Meadows.* Their commanding officer was slain. Washington 
and his small force were soon besieged in Fort Necessity — a 
hasty intrenchment. They were forced to surrender. The 
English seemed likely to be kept back behind the range of 
the AUeghanies, though claiming the country to the Pacific. 
The English Government sent out General Braddock,f with 
two regiments which had run away at the battle of Preston- 
pans. 

BRAD DOCK'S DEFEAT.— 17SS. 

108. Braddock started from Alexandria, having added the 
provincial militia to his force. Washington served on his staff. 
The troops advanced carelessly through the unbroken forest. 
They were entrapped in an ambuscade by the French and 
Indians, when only a few miles' distant from Fort Du Quesne.]; 
A scanty remnant of the army was saved by the cool courage 
and skill of Washington, and by the steadiness of the Virgin- 
ians. Braddock was mortally wounded, and most of his offi- 
cers were disabled or slain.§ 

109. Two other expeditions formed parts of the year's 
campaign ; one against Fort Frontenac and Fort Niagara ; 
the other against Crown Point, on Lake Champlain.|| The 

* The Great Meadows, where was the site of Fort Necessity, lie at the eastern 
foot of Chestnut Ridge, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, near the National Road, 
They are about fifty miles north-west of Cumberland, in Maryland. 

t General Edward Braddock (1715-1755) had served with distinction in Spain, 
Portugal, and Germany. He was selected by the Duke of Cumberland for the com- 
mand in America. 

X The scene of Braddock's defeat (9th July, 1755) was on the right bank of the Mo- 
nongahela, only seven or eight miles eastwards from Pittsburg. 

§ Washington's escape was remarkable. He exposed himself with the greatest 
intrepidity throughout the battle. Two horses were shot under him. Four ballc 
pierced his coat ; but he was not wounded. An Indian chief aimed twice at him ; 
then directed his followers to fire at him. He remained untouched. They then 
desisted from the attempt to shoot him, deeming him to have a charmed life. 

II The names of these forts frequently recur in American warfare. Fort Frontenac 
was near Kingston, in Canada, not far from the outlet of Lake Ontario. Fort Niag 
ara was at the mouth of the Niagara River. Crown Point was on the left bank of 
Lake Champlain, north of Ticonderoga, which stood at the iunction of Lake George 



CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 77 

former was abandoned on Braddock's defeat ; the latter pro- 
duced no satisfactory result. The French commander, Dies- 
kau [dee-es'ko)y was severely and incurably wounded and was 
taken prisoner. 

DECLARATION OF ^A^AR.— 1756. 

1 10. War was at length formally declared between 
France and England. Oswego was taken by Montcalm, the 
new Governor of Canada. Nothing was accomplished by the 
English during the year. The next summer Fort William Henry 
was attacked by the French, supported by seventeen hundred 
Indians. The garrison surrendered. Many of them were mas- 
sacred by the savages, in violation of the terms of the surren- 
der. Lord Loudoun {lou'dun)^ the Governor-General of the 
English colonies, collected ten thousand men for the conquest 
of Louisburg. The season was already too far advanced for 
anything to be achieved. 

CAMPAIGN OF 17S8. 

111. William Pitt,* afterwards Earl of Chatham, became 
Prime Minister of England in this season of gloom. The 
American provinces made zealous efforts in their own defence, 
having been promised by him the repayment of such expendi- 
tures as they might make on account of the war. Twenty 
thousand soldiers were required from them. Abercrombie, 
the new general, found fifty thousand under his command. 

112. Three enterprises were contemplated in this 
campaign. Louisburg was taken by General Amherst and 
General Wolfe, aided by a fleet under Admiral Boscawen 
{bos-kawen). Ticohderoga and Crown Point were to be as- 
sailed by Abercrombie and Lord Howe. They had fifteen 



with Lake Champlain. Fort Oswego was on the site of the present Oswego, in New 
York. Fort William Henry was at the head of Lake George, and Fort Edward was 
about half-way on the road between the two lakes. 

* William Pitt (1708-1778), first Earl of Chatham, the great and eloquent Prime Min- 
ister of Britain during the Seven Years' War, became an Earl in 1766. 



78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

thousand men, the largest army yet assembled in America. 
They were repulsed by Montcalm, and the young Lord Howe 
was slain. Abercrombie fell back to Albany. Du Quesne 
was abandoned and burnt when Washington and his Virgin- 
ians appeared before it. Washington received the thanks of 
the Virginia Legislature for this success. He was unable to 
respond to the complimentary address. " Sit down," said the 
Speaker, " your modesty is equal to your valour, and that sur- 
passes the power of any language I possess." 

CAMPAIGN OF 1739. 

113. These successes induced Pitt to undertake the 
conquest of Canada in the next campaign. Three move- 
ments were again proposed, and were intended to unite before 
Quebec. Amherst was to drive the French out of New York, 
and to take Ticonderoga. General Prideaux {prid'o) was to 
capture Fort Niagara, and to join Amherst in Canada. General 
Wolfe was to sail up the St. Lawrence and besiege Quebec. 

114. The siege of Fort Niagara lasted three weeks. It 
surrendered to Sir William Johnson, after Prideaux had been 
killed. Ticonderoga and Crown Point were abandoned on 
Amherst's approach. He did not advance further, but win- 
tered at Crown Point. The attack on Quebec was thus left to 
Wolfe alone.* 

115. Quebec is strongly situated, and was strongly 
fortified. Its works were too extensive for the number of 
the garrison. It stands on a lofty height, and is unassailable 
on three sides, which are defended by the broad rivers St. 
Charles and St. Lawrence. These unite below the Grand 
Battery, and form the splendid harbor, which is screened by 
the Island of Orleans. Behind the city are the Plains of 



* General James Wolfe (1727-1759), when appointed by George II. to command this 
expedition, was represented to be a madman. The king replied that he wished his 
other generals had the same sort of madness. 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 



79 



From 



Abraham, a broad plateau between the two rivers and high 
above their level.* 

ii6. Wolfe arrived before Quebec about midsum- 
mer. He had twenty-two ships and eight thousand men. 
He landed on the Isle of Orleans in front of the city. 
Point Levis (/^Av), a mile ^ 

below Quebec, he threw 
hot shot across the bay 
and destroyed the lower 
town. He was severely 
repulsed in the endeavor 
to drive the French from 
their position on the left 
bank of the river, near the 
Falls of the Montmorenci. 
Wolfe was sick and out of 
heart at the prospect of 
the difficulties before him. general wolfe. 

He heard nothing of Amherst. He was ready to despair. As 
a last chance, he welcomed the thought of proceeding against 
the town from behind. Moving silently up the stream,! he 
landed in the night at a sheltered spot, since noted as Wolfe's 
Cove, and clambered up the steep above, dragging his single 
gun up by the labors of his men. 




THE CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 

117. The Battle of the Heights of Abraham began 
two hours before noon, and lasted only twenty-four minutes. 
Montcalm endeavored to turn the flank of his assailants, and 
to press them over the steep. His troops were broken, and 
Wolfe charged their shattered lines. In this onset he was 



* Cape Diamond, on which the citadel of Quebec is built, is 333 feet above the level 
of the St. Lawrence. 

t As Wolfe was stealing up the St. Lawrence on this memorable night, he quoted a 
verse from Gray's Elegy, then a recent poem, and remarked that he would rather 
have been the author of those stanzas than win the victory on the morrow. 



8o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

wounded in the wrist. He still pushed forward, and was 
wounded again. A third wound was mortal. " They run ! 
they run ! " reported an officer to the expiring general. *' Who 
run ? " asked Wolfe. " The French ; they give way every- 
where," was the reply. "Then," said he, "I die happy." 
Montcalm, too, was wounded ; the second time fatally. When 
informed that he must die, he answered, " I am glad of it ; I 
shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." The city sur- 
rendered four days later. A monument to the joint memory 
of both the fallen commanders was erected in the square before 
the Castle of St. Louis, which was the Government House. 

THE CONQUEST OF CANADA.— 1760. 

Ii8. An attempt by the French to recapture Quebec 

in the spring was frustrated by the arrival of the British fleet. 
Montreal was surrendered in the autumn, when Amherst at 
length reached it. With that town were surrendered the whole 
of Canada, and all the French possessions in North America, 
east of the Mississippi. 

119. The Southern colonies were harassed by the In- 
dians during the desperate struggle in the North. The Chero- 
kees, long faithful to the English, had been rendered hostile 
by harsh treatment. Outrages were committed on both sides. 
The Indian hostages were murdered. The Cherokees took Fort 
Loudoun, on the Tennessee River, and slaughtered twenty- 
seven of the garrison. After three campaigns, they sued for 
peace, and the Valley of the Tennessee was open to English 
settlement. 

120. The Seven Years' War* was closed by the 
Treaty of Paris. France gave up to England what the lat- 
ter had conquered, with all the dependent territory, and to 
Spain all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. Spain ceded 
the Floridas to Great Britain. The English thus acquired all 
that lay between the Great River and the Atlantic ; Spain all 

* The Seven Years' War between Frederick II. of Prussia, and the Empress Maria 
Theresa, involved England, France, Russia, and Poland, as allies of the combatants. 



PONTIACS WAR. 8l 

beyond to the Pacific. France did not retain a foot of land 
on the Northern Continent. 

PONTIAC'S WAR.— 1763. 

121. A desperate Indian v/arfare arose out of the 
removal of the French, who were suspected of instigating 
and encouraging it. The Indians were filled with apprehen- 
sion and rage by the belief that they were to be stripped of 
their lands and to be destroyed. Pontiac, the chief of the 
Ottowas, formed a confederation among the tribes occupying 
the country between the Ohio and the Lakes. He hoped to 
expel the English intruders from the hunting grounds of the 
red men. He spread havoc, dismay, and death along the 
frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and took all but three 
of the forts between Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) and Fort Niagara. 
He besieged Detroit, after failing to capture it by treachery. 
The bold energy of General Bouquet rescued Fort Pitt and 
retrieved disaster in Western Pennsylvania. Pontiac was 
foiled at Detroit. His allies deserted him. All the tribes but 
the Delawares and the Shawanees made peace. Pontiac with- 
drew to Illinois. He was assassinated by a Kaskaskia Indian, 
on the banks of the Mississippi, opposite to St. Louis.* His 
death relieved the English of all serious danger from the In- 
dians, and threw open the West for ^settlement. 

CONDITION OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES BEFORE 
THE REVOLUTION. 

122. The marvellous prosperity and the bright 
prospects of the English colonies in North America 
were described in the British Parliament by Edmund Burke, 
just one month before the actual outbreak of the Revolution. 
At this point a survey of the state of the colonies under 
English rule may be appropriately introduced. 

123. The progress of the English settlements had 

♦The Indian was induced to commit the murder by the bribe of a barrel of 
whiskey. 



82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

brought them nearer to each other. The contact was not close, 
but it was becoming closer every day. There were jealousies 
and antagonisms between the Northern and Southern prov- 
inces. Trade and other interests and communications linked 
them together more and more. Wide tracts of primeval forest 
still separated towns and villages and colonies ; yet companies 
from dissevered regions had withstood the brunt of v/ar, 
shoulder to shoulder. Clearings remained far apart in the 
remote districts. Inward growth brought the scattered 
members near enough to breed the sense of community.* 
Daring pioneers had already fixed their nomes beyond the 
Blue Ridge and the Alleghany Mountains, and had pierced 
the wilderness to the Tennessee, the Kentucky, and the Ohio. 

124. The inhabitants of the colonies were supposed 
to number three millions at the outbreak of the Revolutionary 
War.f Twelve years earlier it was deemed a sanguine fancy 
to represent the white population as exceeding eleven hundred 
thousand. The population was fairly divided between the 
Northern and Southern provinces. Nearly a fourth of the 
number was found within the limits of Virginia ; less than a 
seventh was in Massachusetts, which was second in rank. 

125. The occupations of the people were diversified. 
Most of them were engaged in the cultivation of the soil for 
subsistence. They were homely, frugal, earnest, with a keen 
sense of the useful. In the States north of Virginia and 
Maryland, large numbers were employed in the whale and 
other fisheries, and in various sea service. Merchants were 
numerous and enterprising. They derived large profits from 

* Facilities for travelling, even between the largest cities and towns, were very 
limited. From New York to Philadelphia, one could traverse by stage coach in two 
days a distance over which the traveller can now be carried by rail in two hours. 
From New York to Boston was a week's journey, and from Charleston to Philadel 
phia a journey of two or three weeks. With the great mass of the people carriages 
were not used. They rode on horseback, the wife not unfrequently seated on a pil- 
lion behind her husband. 

+ The calculation was loose and unworthy of confidence. Bancroft concludes 
'f that the whole number of white inhabitants in all the thirteen colonies was, in 1774, 
about 2,100,000 J of blacks, about 500,000; the total population very nearly 2,600,000." 



ENGLISH COLONIES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. Z^ 



their commerce. In many northern harbors, shipbuilding was 
energetically prosecuted. Artisans of all kinds were in de- 
mand, and were amply remunerated. The restless and roving 
became hunters and trappers, and pursued their game far in 
front of the settlements. The lumber business furnished oc- 
cupation to multitudes of wood-cutters. Some small manu- 
factures had been begun. Iron furnaces had been erected in 
Virginia and elsewhere. Manufacturers were grievously dis- 
couraged by the English " Navigation Laws," and by other 
measures of repression. 

126. Agriculture was directed to the production of 
dissimilar crops in the Northern and in the Southern prov- 




WHEAT HARVESTING. 

inces. It was also con- 
ducted in diverse modes 

V -- - t^^^^^^^I-x.-: ^^'<" -^ ^^ ^^ t^v<^ regions. The 
"^ ^ --v.'^ -> habits and character of 

the people were affected by this diversity. 

In the North were small farms and small farmers. The 

ground was cleared and tilled, the crops harvested, and all 



84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the operations of the field and of rustic industry were per- 
formed by the owners, their famiHes, and their hired laborers. 

In the South were large plantations cultivated by slaves, 
whose rich owners lived in ease and luxurious indulgence. 
The planters were easily tempted into extravagance and dissi- 
pation. They were generous, but reckless ; hospitable, and 
inclined to out-door sports. The culture of the soil was slov- 
enly. Old fields were thrown out of use and left waste. New 
lands were inclosed, for land was abundant, fertile, and cheap. 

In the North were raised the various crops of a cool and 
temperate climate ; principally for home or neighborhood 
consumption. In the South, the staple productions — rice, in- 
digo, cotton, tobacco, Indian corn, and wheat — were cultivated 
on a large scale, for the purpose of exportation.* 

127. Productions were abundant in both the North 
and the South, and in excess of the home demand. Every- 
where were ease and plenty ; out of the cities destitution was 
scarcely known. Wealth was rapidly accumulated. Rich 
men were numerous, but neither so many nor so rich as to be 
oppressive to the laboring class. Expensive dresses, and the 
other forms of elegant display, were frequent. The large mass 
of the people were clothed in comfortable homespun, f The 
lavish Virginia planter played on the English comic stage the 
part subsequently filled by the East India nabob. 

128. The abundance of valuable products which provoked 
luxurious indulgences nourished a still more abundant 
commerce. The harbors of New England, New York, Phil- 
adelphia, Norfolk, and Charleston were busy with arriving 
and departing vessels. An active trade was kept up between 
Boston and other neighboring ports, and the West Indies ; 
with the Catholic countries of Europe, which they supplied 
with their Lenten diet of salt fish ; and direct with England. 



* Farming implements were few and simple : the wooden plough, iron-pointed ; a 
cumbrous hoe ; the sickle ; the flail, etc. 

t The spinning-wheel and loom almost always constituted a part of the furnishing 
of country houses. Mrs. Washington is said to have had sixteen spinning-wheels. 



COAWITION OF THE COLONIES, 8^ 

To the West India Islands were sent lumber, fish, and flour, 
to be exchanged for molasses, which was converted into New 
England rum. The cargoes from the Southern colonies were 
rice, tobacco, indigo, cotton, hemp, grain, and lumber. 

129. The exports and imports of the country had 
increased surprisingly.* The " Navigation Laws " confined 
the trade to the mother country and its colonies. These re- 
strictions were, however, evaded, and smuggling was often 3 
source of wealth. Moreover, ships built in Northern ship- 
yards, having disposed of their cargoes in the Mediterranean 




OLD TIMES — SPINNING-WHEEL AND LOOM. 

and elsewhere, were habitually sold in foreign harbors. They 
thus became articles of both manufacture and trade. 

130. The sparseness of the population, in comparison 
with t he vast extent of the country, stimulated ingenuity, and 

* The exports in 1763 amounted to about five millions and a half of dollars ; and 
the imports to more than eight millions. In 1773, notwithstanding the Non-Importa< 
tion Agreements, the exports reached nearly seven, and the imports exceeded ten 
millions. 



86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

fostered that spirit of invention which has continued to be a 
marked American characteristic. A rude and inefficient cot- 
ton-gin was in use on some Southern plantations. Most of 
the implements in daily service had been simplified or im- 
proved. Franklin's experiments in electricity had resulted in 
the device of the lightning-rod.* 

131. No civilized people can long remain without in- 
tellectual pursuits, after the urgent needs of subsistence are 
satisfied and the accumulation of wealth begun. General 
education was diligently cherished in New England, and the 
foundations of the present diffused inteUigence were laid. 
There were colleges in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia.f 

Letters, philosophy, and science found a few eager devotees. 
In the early years of the Virginia colony, Sandys's Translation 
of Ovid's Metamorphoses, a work notable in its day, had been 
completed on the banks of the James River.]; No other work 
of like literary reputation had been produced ; but the writings 
of Franklin were admirable in the plain directness of their 
style, and in the practical sagacity which they displayed. 
Many instructive volumes issued from the press. Newspapers 
were established,§ and were read with avidity. Controversial 
tracts abounded. Theology and metaphysics were enriched 
by the acute speculations of Jonathan Edwards. 

132. Science has attracted public attention only in 



* The invention of the lightning-rod was announced in " Poor Richard's Almanac " 
for 1753. 

t Harvard was founded in 1636 ; William and Mary, in 1693 ; Yale, in 1700 ; Colum- 
bia, in 1754 ; Princeton, in 1746 j Pennsylvania University, in 1749. [Brown Univer- 
sity, Rhode Island, 1764.] 

X The last ten books of Sandys's Ovid were written about the time of " the 
Great Massacre" of 1622. Byrd's account of the running of the line between 
Virginia and North Carolina has great literary merit. 

§ The first permanent newspaper in the United States was the Boston News-Letter^ 
established in April, 1704. It was a foolscap half sheet, issued weekly, and was large 
enough to contain all the news. At the beginning of the Revolution, there were 
only thirty-seven newspapers, with an aggregate circulation of not over 4,000. 

In 1775 the whole number of printing-houses in the British colonies was fifty. 



CONDITION OF THE COLONIES. 87 

recent years ; but the American Philosophical Society was in- 
stituted in Philadelphia as early as 1744, by the zeal of Dr. 
Franklin and his friends. The researches of Franklin into 
the nature of electricity, and his drawing lightning from the 
clouds, along the string of a kite, were almost the creation of 
a new science. David Rittenhouse constructed a rude ob- 
servatory for himself, and gained distinction by his astrono- 
mical pursuits. 

133. The state of religion among the people differed 
greatly in the different provinces. The Church of England 
was the established church in New York, Virginia, and the 
Carolinas. In Maryland, the population remained largely 
Roman Catholic. In New England the original Puritanism 
was dominant, but its rigor had become much softened. A 
solemn and somewhat gloomy piety, however, still prevailed 
The Presbyterians were numerous, influential, and earnest in 
New Jersey. There, but especially in Pennsylvania, were the 
quiet and gentle Quakers. In Carolina and Georgia Mora- 
vians and other German Protestants were settled, and Hugue- 
not families were frequent in Virginia and South Carolina. 

Everywhere, however, was found an intermixture of creeds, 
and consequently the need of toleration had been experienced. 
Laxity of morals and of conduct was alleged against the 
communities of the Anglican Church. In the middle of the 
eighteenth century a low tone of religious sentiment was gen- 
eral. The revival of fervor, which was excited then by the 
Wesleys, was widely spread by Whitefield in America, and 
Methodism was making itself felt throughout the country. 
The Baptists were spreading in different colonies, and were 
acquiring influence by their earnest simplicity. They favored 
liberty in all forms, and became warm partisans of the revo- 
lutionary movement. 



88 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

SUMMARY OF TOPICS.— PART II. 
THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 

First English Attempts, i. Delay in profiting by the discovery of 
the Cabots ; Henry VIII. ; renewed attention to North America ; North- 
west passage ; expectation of gold mines. 2. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's 
two expeditions ; his fate. 3. Sir Walter Raleigh — exploring expedition ; 
the name of Virginia. 4. The first colony. 5. Its history. 6. The 
White Colony ; its fate. 7. Why not relieved ; a new company. 

The Virginia Colony. S. Raleigh's patent forfeited ; the new char- 
ter ; the two companies ; the Virginia Council ; tenure of lands and labor. 
9. The expedition to Virginia ; the councillors ; the settlement. 10. Quar- 
rels. II. Capt. John Smith. 12. Difficulties at Jamestown ; Smith's ad- 
ventures. 13. Fresh emigrants ; exploration of the Chesapeake ; Smith 
president. 14. Disappointment; new charter. 15. The Governor-Gen- 
eral ; misfortunes of the new expedition. 16. Condition of the colonists ; 
Smith's return to England ; " The Starving Time." 17. Arrival of the 
shipwrecked party ; abandonment of Jamestown ; return of the fugitives. 

First Permanent English Colony. 18. Renewal of the colony, ig. 
Lord Delaware. 20. Government left behind by him ; private ownership 
of land ; tobacco. 21. Change in the direction ; first Legislature ; prog- 
ress ; expenses. 22. Sale of wives — their price. 23. The marriage of 
Pocahontas ; her story. 24. Introduction of negro slaves ; conversion of 
the Indians ; a college. 

The Great Massacre. 25. Slaughter of colonists by the Indians. 
26. Alleged cause of the massacre ; Virginia a colony of the Crown. 27. 
Lord Baltimore's search for a settlement ; dissensions resulting ; a hog- 
stealing Governor. 23. Sir William Berkeley Governor. 29. Second In- 
dian massacre ; death of Opechancanough. 

Virginia under the Commonwealth. 30. Effect of the Civil War on 
Virginia ; the Commissioners of the Commonwealth; the new Govern- 
ment ; the restoration of Berkeley ; the Old Dominion. 

The New England Colonies. 31. Early colonial enterprises ; Capt. 
John Smith's survey ; naming the country. 32. Puritans in Holland ; 
their application for settlement ; their reception. 33. The Pilgrim Fa- 
thei-s ; their voyage ; their arrival. 34. Agreement for government; settle- 
ment begun; the winter. 35. The lone Indian; Massasoit ; Canoni- 
cus ; Indian dangers ; Capt. Standish. 36. Mariana ; Laconia ; Nova 
Scotia. 37. The strictly Pur' tan colony ; Winthrop ; Charlestown. 38. 



SUMMARY FOR REVIEW. 



89 



Intolerance ; dissension ; Winthrop and Vane ; Roger AVilliams ; Anne 
Hutchinson. 39. Prosperity of Massachusetts ; Harvard College. 40. 
Apprehensions of the English Government ; Archbishop Laud ; restraint of 
emigration ; New England during the Civil War; "The Body of Liber- 
ties." 

Colonial Confederation. 41. The New England Union ; exclusion 
of Rhode Island. 42. Religious dissent ; Anabaptists, Quakers ; conver 
sion of Indians ; translation of the Bible. 

Settlement of Rhode Island. 43. Wanderings of Roger Williams ; 
Providence ; treatment by Indian chiefs ; Aquiday ; Rhode Island. 44. 
Constitution of Rhode Island ; second charter ; position of Williams in 
regard to religious freedom. 

Settlement of Connecticut. 45. First grant in Connecticut ; Say- 
brook ; Hartford ; New Haven. 46. The Indians and the settlers. 

Indian Wars. 47. The Pcquods ; Mason's army. 48. Mason's cam- 
paign. 49. The Narragansetts and the Mohicans ; fate of Miantonomoh; 
war with the Dutch prevented. 50. Royal charter for Connecticut ; the 
Governor ; the surrender of the charter ; the charter hidden. 

The Maryland Colony. 51. Grant to Lord Baltimore ; discord. 52. 
Design of the new colony ; its name ; concessions to the settlers ; the first 
colonists ; the place of settlement ; the first year. 53. The war with 
Claybornc. 54. The " Toleration Act ; " the Government under the Com- 
monwealth ; the new Assembly ; civil war ; restoration of proprietary gov- 
ernment. 55. Lord Baltimore's heirs ; their rights confirmed, withdrawn, 
restored ; last Lord Baltimore. 56. Progress of Maryland. 

Virginia History Resumed. 57. Restoration of the royal authority ; 
the " Navigation Act ; " grant of " the Northern Neck ; " the dominion of 
Virginia granted ; condition of the Virginians. 58. The first Assembly 
after the Restoration ; continuance of the Legislature. 59. Increased dis- 
content ; the Susquehannahs ; John Washington and Berkeley ; Indian 
ravages ; their effect. 60. Nathaniel Bacon ; his proceedings ; the new 
Assembly and Bacon's action ; Bacon and Berkeley. 61. Bacon, Berke- 
ley, and the Indians ; capture of Jamestown ; the Pamunkeys ; overthrow 
of the Indians ; destruction of Jamestown. 62. Death of Bacon ; severity 
to the rebels ; recall of Berkeley ; his long rule. 63. Penalty for rebel- 
lion ; forces and resources of Virginia. 64. Consequences of Monmouth's 
Rebellion ; the Huguenots. 65. William and Mary College ; Williams- 
burg. 06. Governor Spotswood ; passage of the Blue Ridge ; " Knights 
of the Golden Horseshoe ; " the first iron furnace ; Blackbeard ; death 
of Spotswood ; Governor Gooch. 

The New England Colonies after I660. 67. Union and spirit of 
independence ; the regicides ; GofTe. 



go HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

King Philip's War. 63. War with Wampanoags ; course of the war ; 
fate of Philip, his wife and son. 69. War with the Narragansetts ; cap- 
ture of their camp ; fate of Canonchet ; losses of the New Englanders. 
70, Massachusetts and the English Crown ; declaration of Charles II. ; 
action of James II. ; charter of William III. 

King William's War. 71. How occasioned, and begun; Schenec- 
tady ; assembly of delegates ; proposed attack on Montreal ; Port Royal ; 
Quebec ; bills of credit. 72. Sir William Phipps. 73. Salem witchcraft. 

Queen Anne's War. 74. Ravages committed ; Deerfield ; attempt 
on Canada ; Port R.oyal. 75. Effects of the war ; Bishop Berkeley. 

King George's War. 76. Louisburg ; Nova Scotia ; expulsion of 
Acadians ; population of New England. 

New York. 77. Governors of New York ; how appointed ; their 
characters and government; the people; Indian treaty, 78. Recapture 
of the city by the Dutch ; recovery ; the new charter ; the new Deputy- 
Governor. 79. Legislation ; commotion and usurpation. 80. Condition 
of the province ; Earl of Cornbury ; Capt. Kidd. 81. Negro conspiracy. 
82. Congress at Albany. 

New Jersey and Delaware. 83. Grant of New York enlarged ; 
transfer of New Jersey ; measures for settlement. 84. Sale by Lord 
Berkeley ; the Quaker colony. 85. Penn's new enterprise. 

Pennsylvania. 86. Penn's purpose ; his grant. 87. Settlement ; 
treaty with the Indians ; Philadelphia. 88. " The Territories ; " Mason 
and Dixon's line ; 89. Penn's return to America ; Delaware ; Penn's last 
years and death. 

North and South Carolina, go. Heath's grant ; grant to Claren- 
don, Berkeley, etc. 91. Name of the colony ; settlements in it. 92. The 
plan of government ; its author. 93. The Governor under " the Grand 
Model." 94. Condition of the Carolinas ; the population ; Charleston. 
95. Prosperity ; dangers. 96. The Tuscaroras ; the Yemassees. 97. Re- 
ligious discord ; the Carolinas a royal colony ; productions and exports. 

Georgia. 98. Purpose of the grant ; the name. 99. Oglethorpe ; first 
settlement ; provisions for settlers ; prohibitions. 100. Companions of 
Oglethorpe on his return ; war with Spaniards ; Oglethorpe's recall ; loi. 
Georgia after his departure. 102. Territory occupied by the English. 

The French and Indian War. 103. Hazards of the English ; French 
losses and acquisitions ; struggle in prospect. 

New France. 104. French explorations. 105. La Salle ; Louisiana ; 
the Mississippi Company. 

Hostilities between France and England. 106. Continuance of 
war. 107. Washington's expedition ; the Ohio Company ; Fort Du 
Quesne ; Washington taken prisoner. 



S UMMA R y FOR RE VIE W. pi 

Braddock's Defeat. io8. Braddock's march, surprise, and death, 
109. Other movements. 

Declaration of War. no. French and English operations, 1756, 
1757- 

Campaign of 1758. iir. The new Prime Minister ; the army. 112. 
Plan of the campaign ; its fortunes ; Fort Du Quesne and Washington. 

Campaign of 1759- ii3- Conquest proposed; plan of campaign. 
114. Delays and their consequence. 115. The city of Quebec. 116. 
Wolfe's arrival ; v^^ant of success ; change of plan. 

The Capture of Quebec. 117. Battle of the Heights of Abraham; 
death of Wolfe and Montcalm. 118. Loss of Canada by the French. 
iiQ. The Indians in the South. 120. The Treaty of Paris; France ex- 
cluded from North America, 

Pontiac's War. 121. Pontiac's confederacy ; Indian ravages ; siege 
of Detroit ; General Bouquet ; death of Pontiac. 

The English Colonies before the Revolution. 122. Burke's ad- 
miration of the progress of the English colonies ; survey proposed. 123. 
Relation of the colonies to each other ; influences tending to union ; 
separation ; settlements in the interior. 124. Number of inhabitants. 
125. Occupations ; agriculture ; fisheries ; commerce ; ship-building ; lum- 
bering; manufactures. 126. Diversities of agriculture in the North and 
in the South ; differences in habits, character, culture, living, crops. 127. 
Abundance of productions ; ease ; wealth ; luxury. 128. Extent of com- 
merce ; articles of trade. 129. Exports and imports. 130. Inventions ; 
Franklin. 131. Education ; colleges ; literature ; newspapers ; theol- 
ogy and metaphysics. 132. Science ; Franklin ; Rittenhouse. 133. Re- 
ligion in the several provinces ; revival in religion. 



92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PART III. 
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. 

1763-1789. 

THE APPROACH OF REVOLUTION.— 
1763-1775. 

1. The exclusion of France from North America 

released the English colonies from all serious apprehensions. 
The long restrained yearning for independence was encour- 
aged by the assurance of security and the consciousness of 
strength. Industry and trade were stimulated by the return of 
peace. Wealth and population flowed in with a full tide. The 
startling progress of this prosperity attracted the admiration 
not only of Burke,* but of all who observed the great move- 
ments in the affairs of men. 

2. English statesmen feared that the gain of Canada 
would prove to be the loss of America. French statesmen 
had consoled themselves for its surrender with the hope and 
the belief that the conquerors would be ruined by the conse- 
quent revolt of the colonies. Montcalm had expressed the 
like conviction, three weeks before the battle on the Heights 
of Abraham. These fears and hopes were soon in the way of 
accomplishment. The colonies felt that they could now stand 
alone. They no longer needed British protection and British 
support. They were unwilling to submit any longer to British 



* Edmund Burke (1728-1797) was a great English statesman, and the most brilliant 
of English orators. He was a member of Parliament from 1766 to 1793. In 1771 he 
was appointed Agent for the Colony of New York. He was the friend of Franklin, 
and always favored the interests of the American colonies. 




Engraved /(>r Unlmfn' ITislnry of the Uvked SitiUef 



THE APPROACH OF THE REVOLUTION. 93 

orders, exactions, and restraints, or to the bonds of a distant 
control. 

3. The grievances of the colonies were set forth, 
some years later, in the Declaration of Independence. Most 
of them were then recent, but many were of long standing, and 
grew out of the policy uniformly pursued by England for the 
promotion of her home interests. The chief causes of dis- 
content, at the outset, were the restrictions upon trade imposed 
by the Navigation Acts, and the stricter enforcement of 
measures for the repression of smuggling ; the prevention of 
American manufactures ; and the project of taxing America 
to increase English revenues, and to lighten the burden of 
the English national debt. That debt had been augmented 
$300,000,000 by the late war. Much of it had been incurred 
for the defence of the American colonies. It was so large as 
to threaten the ruin of England. 

4. The quarrel over the trade regulations broke out 
in Massachusetts. An old law was revived, and warrants, 
called " Writs of Assistance," were issued, to search anywhere 
for smuggled goods. These warrants were denounced as " a 
kind of power, which cost one king of England his head, and 
another his throne." 

THE PARSONS' CASE. 

5. Virginia was rendered indignant by orders from 
England, setting aside an Act of Assembly which forbade the 
introduction of African slaves, and annulling another Act, 
fixing the value of tobacco in contracts to be paid in tobacco. 
The salary of parsons was 16,000 pounds of tobacco. Some 
clergymen went to law to obtain the difference between the 
market price of tobacco and the price fixed by the statute. 
Patrick Henry* was the advocate of the people in " The Par- 



* Patrick Henry (1736-1799)— " the forest-bom Demosthenes "—was America's 
greatest orator, and one of its earhcst and most ardent patriots. He had little educa- 
tion, and his early years were unpromising. His speech in " the Parsons' Case " 
gave him distinction. It was delivered at Hanover C.-H. in 1763. He is prominent 
in tfie subsequent history. 



94 



JUS TOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



sons' Case." He declared that " a king who annuls or dis- 
allows a law of so salutary a nature, degenerates into a tyrant, 
and forfeits dl right to obedience." "Treason! treason!" 
shouted magistrates, lawyers, and spectators. He lost the 
case, but the parsons were allowed only one penny damages. 
Henry was not more than twenty-seven years of age at this 
time. 
6. The English Government was resolved to tax 




PATRICK HENRY BEFORE THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES. 

the American colonies, and to maintain an army there at their 
expense. The " Sugar Act " lowered some imposts, 
but announced the purpose of retaining a tax for 
revenue. Discontent was increased, and opposition became 
bolder. Samuel Adams, of Boston,* said : *' We claim British 



1764. 



* Samuel Adams (i7:?2-i8o3) was one of the earliest and most active opponents of 
British rule in America. In 1769, he closed a public speech with the declaration : 
" Independent we arc ; and independent we will be." 



THE STAMP ACT. 



95 



1765. 



rights, not by charter only ; we are born to them." He as- 
serted the exclusive right of the colonies to tax themselves, 
and to govern themselves. The doctrine spread, that " Taxa- 
tion without representation is tyranny," and that " Resistance 
to tyrants is obedience to God." 

THE STAMP ACT. 

7. "The stamp Act " * was passed in England while 
such was the feeling in 
America. This Act re- 
quired the use of stamps, 

of various cost, 

on all law pa- 
pers, almanacs, pamph- 
lets, and newspapers. 
The measure was bitter- 
ly resented and resisted 
by the Americans. It 
was not the form of the 
tax, but the fact of tax- 
ation, to which they ob- 
jected, f Patrick Henry 
offered resolutions in 
the Virginia Legisla- 
ture, affirming that " the 




SAMUEL ADAMS. 



* A Stamp Tax had been suggested in 1734, by Governor Colby, of New York ; and 
again in 1744, by Governor Clarke. 

When it vi'as proposed, in 1739,10 Sir Robert Walpole, then Prime Minister of 
England, he rejected the suggestion, saying : "I will leave that for some of my 
successors, who may have more courage than I have, and be less a friend to com- 
merce than I am." * * * George Grenville was that rash successor. 

tin the debates in the British Parliament on this bill, Charles Townshcnd re- 
marked, that the Americans were "children planted by our care, and nourished by 
our indulgence." To this Colonel Barr^ made the indignant reply: "They planted 
by your care ! No — your oppression planted them in America ! — they fled fiom your 
tyranny to a then uncultivated and inhospitable wilderness, exposed to all the hard- 
ships to which human nature is liable. They nourished by your indulgence ! No— 
they grew by your neglect ; your care of them was displayed, as soon as you began 
to care about them, in sending persons to rule them who were the deputies of depu- 
ties of ministers." * * ♦ 



96 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

General Assembly of the whole colony alone have the sole 
right and power to levy taxes on the inhabitants of the 
colony." He closed his speech with the celebrated words : 
'' Caesar had his Brutus ; Charles I. his Cromwell ; and 
George III." — "Treason!" cried the Speaker— " may profit 
by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it ! " 
The resolutions were adopted by a majority of only one. They 
were repeated by the other colonies. 

8. Delegates from nine colonies met at New York, in 
October, and prepared " A Declaration of Rights and Griev- 
ances ; " a petition to the king ; and memorials to both 
Houses of Parliament. The agents for the sale of stamps 
were forced to resign their appointments, or were driven from 
the country. The stamps could not be introduced. They 
were not allowed to be landed, or they were sent back, or deliv- 
ered up, or destroyed. The merchants agreed to stop all im- 
portation from Great Britain. The people resolved to abstain 
from the consumption of British goods. A society was formed 
for the encouragement of home manufactures. The Stamp 
Act was repealed at the beginning of the next year, and the 
news of the repeal produced joy and gratitude in America.* 

THE DUTIES ON TEA, Etc.— 1767. 

9. The joy was of brief duration. A new ministry laid 
duties on tea, paper, glass, lead, etc. The indignation of the 
Americans was rekindled, and was answered by harsher meas- 
ures on the part of the British Government. Troops were sent 
to Boston to put down resistance by armed force. The Vir- 
ginia Assembly denied the right of Parliament to tax the col- 
onies, and protested against carrying accused persons to Eng- 
land for trial. The Assembly was dissolved by the Governor. 
George Washington, at a private meeting of the members, pro- 
posed resolutions against importing British commodities. They 



* Burke remarked at the time that it was " an event that caused more universal 
joy throughout the British dominions, than perhaps any other that can be remem- 
bered " 



THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 



97 



were adopted. The Legislature of Massachusetts prepared 
and transmitted a circular letter to the other colonies, con- 
demning the recent imposition of taxes by the mother coun- 
try, and inviting them to unite in redressing the evils com- 
plained of. The Legislature refused to rescind the resolu- 
tion of this circular, when ordered by the Governor to do so. 
The legislative body was dissolved by him in consequence. 




THE FANEUIL HALL OF THE REVOLUTION. 

As it was not reassembled, a convention was proposed, 
met at Boston.* 



It 



THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 



10. The presence of the soldiery, for the support 
of the revenue laws, excited much bitterness. A quarrel 



* The convention met in Faneuil Hall, the customary place of assemblag-e for the 
patriots of Massachusetts. Hence it is often designated "The Cradle of American 
Liberty." It had been built and given to the city by Peter Faneuil, in i7-)2. After 
its destruction by fire in 1761, it was rebuilt by the town. It was converted into a 
theatre during the British occupation. 



98 



HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 



took place between a citizen and a soldier. Each was sus- 
^^ tained by his class. Two days later, the troops on 
J. ' parade were insulted and bullied bv the mob. One of 
* the soldiers was struck. He and some of his fellows 
fired into the crowd. Three men were killed, and several 
wounded. This ** Boston Massacre," as it was tenned, 
produced grave commotion. The removal of the troops from 
the city was demanded and enforced. The captain in com- 
mand, and the soldiers engaged in the disturbance, were 
brought to trial. They were defended by John Adams * and 
Josi:ih Quincy. All but two were acquitted. These were found 
guilty of manslaughter. 

11. The offensive duties were repealed by the British 
Parliament on the ven.- day on which the '* Boston Massacre '* 
occurred. The duty on tea was, however, retained, for the 
purpose of asserting the right of taxation, and of relieving the 
East India Company, whose warehouses were crowded with 
unsold supplies. The Home Government stubbornly main- 
tained, and the colonies strenuously denied, the right of tax- 
ation, f Massachusetts was put under martial law, and other 

measures of coercion were proposed. The salaries of 
* the high officers of the Provincial Government were 
fixed bv royal ordinance, to render them independent of the 
will of the people. 

THE REGULATORS. 

12. The other colonies joined in the resistance to 
the British encroachments, but not with uniform promptness 
and resolution. In North Carolina, the inland people formed 



* John Adams (i-j;,--iS:^f^, afterwards President. He was one of the committee to 
draft the Declaration of Independence ; and one of the negv^tiators of the Treaty of 
Paris, in i-S:. He died 4ih July. iS.^. 

+ The hatred entertained for these duties w-as strikingrly displaye\3. In 177-, the 
revenue schooner Gaspee ran aground off Rhode Island, while pursuing the Prov- 
idence pvackct, which refused to come to when a shot w^as fired across her bows. In 
the middle of the night, more than two hundred persons frv>m Pro\-idence captured 
the schooner and burnt it. 



DANIEL BOONE. 



99 



associations to oppose the exactions and arbitrary conduct 



1768. 



of Governor Tryon, and assumed the name of " Reg- 



ulators." Three years later they were defeated by 
Tryon on the Alamance River. Six of the insurgents were 
executed, and numerous confiscations were made. Many per- 
sons engaged in the insurrection, or, reduced by it to poverty, 
lied beyond the Alleghany Mountains. Their settlements on 
the Watauga and the Nolichuck'y were the beginning of the 
State of Tennessee. Daniel Boone, and a few others had 
preceded them. 

DANIEL BOOKE. 

13. Daniel Boone was a plain yeoman, with the tastes and 

spirit of a pioneer. He was living on the Yadkin River, in 

North Carolina, when 

the insurrection of the 

Regulators broke out. 

He started from home 

to explore the wilds of 

Kentucky. He was 

taken prisoner by the 

Indians, but escaped. 

H e continued h i s 

journey, reached the 

Ohio, and explored 

the Cumberland Riv- 
er. Returning to the 

Yadkin, he sold his 

little property, and 

set out with his own daniel boone. 

and other families for " The Dark and Bloody Land."* He 
^^'^s detained on the Clinch River, as the Indians were 
ravaging the frontier. When the Shawanee war was 

over, he proceeded on his route, and built a fort on the Ken- 
tucky River, where Boonesborough now stands. He was again 




The Indian name, Kain-tuck'ee, is said to mean ** The Dark and Bloody Ground.* 



lOo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

captured by the Indians, and again made his escape. He 
accompanied General Clarke in his expeditions against the 
tribes on the Ohio. The loss of his land, the love of adven- 
ture, and the long habit of a roving life, tempted him further 
westward. He settled on the Little O'sage River, in the heart 
of Missouri, and at eighty years of age accompanied a hunting 
party to the Great Osage. He was nearly ninety when he died * 
— having seen many States formed out of the wilderness and 
the prairies which he had traversed in advance of settlements. 
He was a notable example of those daring and resolute men, 
who have pushed the domain and the civilization of the United 
States from Massachusetts Bay and the Chesapeake to the 
Golden Gate and the Pacific shores. 

THE PRINCESS SUSANNA.— 1771. 

14. A singular occurrence varied the strife of these 
eventful years. Sarah Wilson suddenly appeared in South 
Carolina, claiming to be the Princess Susanna Carolina, of 
the royal family of England.f She had been an attendant 
on one of the queen's maids of honor, and had stolen much 
valuable jewelry from her Majesty. She was tried, convicted, 
and condemned to death. The sentence was commuted to 
transportation and sale in the colonies. She had been sold 
in Maryland, and had escaped to Carolina. She made lavish 
promises of governments, regiments, offices, and promotions. 
The romance ended by her arrest near Charleston, as a run- 
away servant. 

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.— 1773. 

15. The discords grew more bitter every day. The 

non-importation agreement was renewed, as the duty on tea 
was retained. It was little regarded, and was followed by a 
large increase in the amount of British wares imported. Tea 

* Daniel Boone (i735?-i82o) settled in Missouri, on a Spanish grant, in 1799. 

t A like adventure occurred in 1721, in Mississippi, while under French rule. A 
woman, claiming to be the widow of the Czarowitz Alexis, the unhappy son of Peter 
the Great, arrived in that country, and married a French officer. 



THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. lOi 

was, however, refused. No orders were sent for it. The East In- 
dia Company's warehouses in London contained 17,000,000 lbs. 
which could not be disposed of. To encourage sales in Amer- 
ica, the export duty was taken off ; and the price of tea was 
thus rendered lower in the colonies than in England. The 
temptation was offered in vain. The Americans still refused 
to take tea. Cargoes were sent to American ports without 
being ordered. They were everywhere rejected. At Boston, 
the vessels were boarded by fifty persons, disguised as Mohawk 
Indians, and three hundred and fifty chests of tea were emptied 
into the harbor, with great public rejoicing. This was called 
*'The Boston Tea Party."* 

THE BOSTON PORT BILL.— 1774. 

16. The British Government was provoked to 
stronger measures by this destruction of lea.f The har- 
bor of Boston was closed as a commercial harbor by ''The 
Boston Port Bill." The Constitution of Massachusetts was 
altered. Objectionable representatives were excluded from 
the General Court. The seat of government was transferred 
to Salem ; and trade was removed to Marblehead. General 
Gage, the commander of the British forces, was appointed Gov- 
ernor. Trials in certain causes were declared removable to 
another colony, or to Great Britain. 

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.— 1774. 

17. These violent measures produced general 
alarm and indignation. The Virginia Assembly protested 



* About six weeks after the destruction of this tea, Franklin was summoned before 
the Privy Council in London, and was virulently denounced by Wedderburn, the So- 
Kcitor-General. Franklin was removed from his office of Dcputy-Postmaster-General 
of the Colonies, and from his other public appointments. 

t It was the king and the court party, or the king's friends, who urged co- 
ercion. 

" With the two exceptions of Johnson and Gibbon, all the eminent and shining tal- 
ents of the country, led on by Burke, were marshalled in support of the colonies." — 
Wraxall, Historical Memoirs. 



HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



against them, and was immediately dissolved by the Earl of 
Dunmore. Eighty-nine of the members met in the ball-room 
,^5^ or " Hall of Apol- 

lo," of the Raleigh 
Tavern, at Wil- 
liamsburg. They 
resolved that an at- 
tack on one colony 
was an attack on 
all. They suggest- 
ed the appointment 
of Committees of 
Correspon dence, 
and of deputies to 
a General Congress. 
i8. The Con- 
gress, which was 
the first Continen- 
tal Congress, met 
at Philadelphia in the beginning of September. Eleven 
colonies were represented at the meeting, which assembled in 
Carpenter's Hall. The members entered into a solemn asso- 
ciation to secure the redress of colonial grievances. They re- 
solved not to import goods from Great Britain, nor to export 
American products thither, and not to consume British com- 
modities until the offensive acts were repealed. Declarations 
and addresses to the Crown, the British people, and the col- 
onies were issued, in order to proclaim the infringement of 
colonial rights, and to invite consideration, sympathy, or con- 
currence. Congress then adjourned, with the recommenda- 
tion that another should assemble in the coming May. 

19. Civil War was fast approaching. Yet Lord North, 
the British Prime Minister, declared " his firm persuasion that 
the troubles in America would be settled happily, speedily, and 
without bloodshed." General Gage fortified the neck which 




carpenter's hall. 



BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT. 



103 



connected Boston with the mainland. A Provincial Congress 
met at Concord. The militia was organized, minute-men des- 
ignated, and generals commissioned. Everything was ripe for 
war, and ready for an explosion. The first spark would fire 
the train. 

THE BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT, 

20. Dangers arose on the frontier. The Indians were 
in arms on the Western border. Dunmore marched against 
them, and reached Pittsburg with the force under his imme- 
diate command. He made a new treaty with the Six Nations, 
and proceeded against the Shawanees on the Ohio. General 
Andrew Lewis, with several regiments of Virginia riflemen, 
marched by way of the Greenbrier and Kanawha (kan-aw- 
wa) rivers to Point Pleasant. Dunmore had proposed to 
meet him there, but had not arrived. An engagement with 

the Indians was accidentally brought on while Lewis's 
j^r\\ army was encamped between the Kanawha and the 

Ohio. The battle lasted throughout the day. The 
Indians were defeated.* The loss of the Virginians was very 
heavy. Many of their officers were wounded or slain. Colonel 
Charles Lewis, the brother of the general, was shot down 
early in the conflict. The victory was decisive, and freed Vir- 
ginia from Indian occupation, and from regular Indian hostil- 
ities. A treaty was made with the Shawanees, and they were 
restricted to the further bank of the Ohio. To this treaty 
Logan assented, though he would not attend the council. The 
Cayu'ga chief sent his acceptance with a speech preserved by 
Jefferson as a striking example of savage eloquence.f 



* The Indians were commanded by the gigantic warrior Cornstalk, and his son 
Ellinipsico. The voice of Cornstalk was heard above the din of battle, cheering his 
braves with the cry, " Be strong ! Be strong ! " 

+ The war began with the murder of thirteen Indians along the Ohio. Logan killed 
the same number of white men in retaliation. He was not present at the battle of 
Point Pleasant. He sent his speech by an Indian interpreter. In this celebrated 
speech he said : 

* * "One man * * last spring cut off, unprovoked, all the relations of 
Ix)gan, not sparing women or children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the 



I04 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

21. A close estimate of the population was made by 
the first Congress. Virginia was supposed to contain 650,000 
inhabitants ; Massachusetts, 400,000 ; and New York, 250,000. 



THE REVOLUTION, 1775. 

22. The British Ministry were confident that the 
colonies would soon submit, or be subdued. They felt 
only contempt for the courage, the steadiness, and the disci- 
pline of the colonial militia.* They said that the Americans 
" might bluster, but would not fight, or think of resisting Gen- 
eral Gage." The resistance grew more resolute with the reso- 
lution to crush it. Patrick Henry proposed in the Virginia 
Convention at Richmond, that " the colony be immediately 
put in a position of defence." He clearly discerned the com- 
ing conflict. He exclaimed : " If we wish to be free, we must 
fight : I repeat it, we must fight ! The war is inevitable, and 
let it come ! Let it come ! I know not what course others 
may take ; but, as for me. Give me liberty, or give me 
death ! " 

THE ROUT AT LEXINGTON. 

23. The war had already come. A small force, sent 
by General Gage to seize some cannon at Salem, had been op- 
posed by the country people at the passage of a little stream. 
A stronger detachment was sent from Boston to capture the 
arms and military stores collected by the patriots at Concord. 
The column set out at midnight ; but its approach was an- 
nounced by Paul Revere {re-veer) to John Adams and John 



veins of any living creature. This called upon me for revenge. * * I have * * 
fully glutted my revenge. For my nation, I rejoice in the beams of peace ; but noth- 
ing I have said proceeds from fear. Logan * * will not turn on his heel to save 
his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." 

* It was contemptuously said in England, " that the sight of a grenadier's cap 
would be sufficient to put an American army to flight." 



THE ROUT AT LEXINGTON. 105 

Hancock, at Lexington.* The British reached that place 
about daybreak, and found the minute-men of the district 
under arms. A skirmish ensued. Eight Ameri- 
f! -'i cans were killed and several were wounded. The 
column pushed on to Concord, but the stores had 
been removed. On its return it was beset by the enraged 
militia. It was fired upon from every vantage ground or place 
of ambush. At Lexington the retreat became a rout. The 
troops were pursued and shot down till they reached Charles- 
ton. It was impossible to make a stand, though Lord Percy 
brought a thousand men to their rescue. The British lost 273 
men ; the Americans, 88. The War cf the Revolution 
was begun. There could be no peace without submission or 
independence. 

24. The skirmish at Lexington was soon known 
throughout the colonies, and roused the people everywhere. 
Twenty thousand militia hastened to Boston. In Rhode Isl- 
and forty cannon were carried off from the batteries. At 
Charleston, South Carolina, the arsenal was sacked, and the 
arms distributed to the volunteers. Georgia threw in her for- 
tunes with the other colonies, and seized the royal maga- 
zines. In Mecklenburg, North Carolina, the people annulled 
the royal authority. The forts of Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point, which commanded the communications with Canada, 
were captured by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. f Allen 
appeared before Ticonderoga early in May, and demanded 
its surrender, " in the name of the great Jehovah and the 
Continental Congress." Crown Point was taken two days 
later. 

25. The Continental Congress reassembled on the 



* There is a very spirited poem by Longfellow on Revere's midnight ride, to con 
vey to the patriots at Lexington intelligence of the march of the British. 

t Benedict Arnold (1740-1801) will reappear frequently and notably in the history 
of the Revolutionary War. Ethan Allen was a prisoner in the hands of the British 
from 1775 to 1778. He died in 1789. 



io6 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



1775. 

May 10, 



same day that Ticonderoga surrendered. It assumed for the 
" Confederacy " the name of '' The United Col- 
onies of North America."' A second petition to 
the king was ordered, and the wish was expressed 
for '* a return to their former connections and friendship 

with Great Britain." 
Measures were taken 
for the vigorous main- 
tenance of the war. An 
army of twenty thou- 
sand men, and the issue 
of three millions of dol- 
lars in paper money, were 
ordered. George Wash- 
ington,* of Virginia, ivas 
appointed Commander- 
in-chief. He resigned 
his seat in the Congress, 
and proceeded to the 
scene of war before Bos- 
ton. 




■' y 



GENERAL WARREN. 

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 

26. The British forces in Boston were strengthened 

by the arrival of ten thousand soldiers, under Generals Howe, 
Clinton, and Burgoyne — names closely associated with the fur- 
ther prosecution of the war. With this increase of force. Gage 



* George Washington (1732-1799) has the history of his country for his biography. 
He was born in Westmoreland County, Va., and was now forty-three years of age. 
His early youth was passed as a surveyor, and as such he had been employed by Lord 
Fairfax. He thus acquired habits of observation, of caution, of cool reflection, of just 
judgment, and of firm decision. He was the friend of peace and attached to Eng- 
land, under whose banner he had served. But he was still more the friend of temper- 
ate liberty, and was devoted to truth, to justice, and to his country. His talents were 
solid rather than brilliant. His nature was so well poised that he was as unshaken 
in adverse as in prosperous fortune. His ambition could not be tempted by a crown; 
nor could disappointment, desertion, and calumny provoke him to despair. He was 
thus admirably fitted to guide the struggling colonies through the doubtful fortunes 
and multiplied difficulties of the Revolution, and of the first period of Independence 



BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 



107 



1775. 

17 June. 



undertook the capture and fortification of Bunker Hill, 
which lay opposite the city, on the further side of the Charles 
River. The design became known, and Colonel Prescott sought 
to preoccupy the position by a night movement. In the dark- 
ness he seized Breed's Hill, which is a lower elevation. Gage 
sent twenty-five hundred troops to dislodge the Americans, 
who numbered fifteen hundred, after being joined 
by Generals Warren and Putnam.* The men-of- 
war in the harbor, and the batteries on the Boston 
shore poured a heavy fire on the American encampment. 
Charlestown was shortly in flames. The British advanced 
against the hostile works. They were driven back by a hot 
and steady fire. A second charge was made. It was repulsed. 
A third charge was undertaken, 
with the support of a thousand new 
troops. The Americans did not 
waver, but their ammunition was 
exhausted, and they were com- 
pelled to retreat. General Warren 
was the last to retire, and was shot 
through the head. The British 
lost 1,054, killed and wounded. 
The American loss was 145 killed, 
and 304 wounded. The fallen 
patriots are commemorated by a 
monument, the corner-stone of which was laid by Lafayette 
fifty years afterwards. 




GENERAL I'UTNAM. 



THE ARMV BEFORE BOSTON. 

27. General Washington took command of the army 

investing Boston a fortnight after the battle of Bunker Hill. 
He found a patriotic mob, rather than an army. It consisted 



* Israel Putnam (1718-1790), a plain farmer and tavern-keeper, commanded the first 
troops raised in Connecticut for the French War in 1755. His popular fame rests 
larfjely on his gallop, in 1779, down " Horseneck Stairs," five miles west of Stamford. 



io8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of 14,500 men — nearly all volunteers for brief periods of ser- 
vice. It was sanguine, but disorderly ; eager, but undisci- 
plined ; confident, but inefficient ; and was without the most 
needful military supplies. The first necessity was to intro- 
duce order, system, permanence, and obedience. The fall 
and winter months were chiefly employed in this indispensable 
task, and in collecting military and other stores. The invest- 
ment of Boston was maintained, and everything was prepared 
for energetic action in the spring. 

ATTEMPT TO CONQUER CANADA. 

28. The last half of the year was not without stir- 
ring events. There was reason to fear a British invasion 
from Canada, which had not joined in the colonial revolt. 
Two expeditions were prepared to avert this danger, and to 
gain the province for the Confederacy. It was expected that 
the Canadians would sympathize actively with the scheme, for 
they had not been twenty years subject to the British Crown. 
Richard Montgomery, an officer of Irish birth, descended Lake 
Champlain, with one army, and moved upon Montreal. Ben- 
edict Arnold, accompanied by Aaron Burr,* ascended the Ken- 
nebec with the other, and was to join Montgomery before 
Quebec. t Montgomery found Montreal abandoned, and took 
it. He then moved down the St. Lawrence with the scanty 
force which did not desert him as soon as the term of service 
expired. 

29. Arnold reached Quebec only two days later than 
the occupation of Montreal. His march had been performed 
under the most serious difficulties. Exposure in a bleak cli- 
mate during the stormy months of autumn, flooded streams, 



* Aaron Burr (1756-1836) will appear prominently at a later period. He was the 
grandson of Jonathan Edwards— a mere boy at this time. His only child, Thcodo- 
sia, was lost at sea, January, 1813. She was reported to have been captured and 
murdered by pirates. 

t Richard Montgomery (1737-1775) serv'ed under Wolfe at the capture of Quebec. 
He emigrated to America in 1772 — settled on the Hudson — and married in New York. 



ATTEMPT TO CONQUER CANADA. 



109 



and chilling rains had to be endured. There were no roads 
through the gloomy forest. The way had to be picked through 
fallen and tangled timber. The shoes of the soldiers were worn 
out on the rugged and frozen soil ; their clothes hung from 
them in tatters ; their food was scanty, and failed altogether 
at times. Their supplies were exhausted before they reached 
the St. Lawrence. Colonel Enos turned back with a third of 
the troops. No obstacles overcame the constancy and the iron 
will of Arnold. On he marched. He reached Quebec, and 
demanded the surrender of the city. The demand was re- 
jected. His ragged regiment inspired no alarm. He retired 
up the river, to wait orders from Montgomery. 

30. The joint forces of the two commanders did not 
reach a thousand men. They were far from home and friends, 
from support, and from supplies. They could not return ; 
their only hope was in rash daring. They advanced to Que- 
bec, and again demanded its surrender. The surrender was 
again refused. A night attack was made on the strongly for- 

-^ tified city, defended by two hundred guns. Arnold 
advanced on the side of the St. Charles River. 
Montgomery led his men along the banks of the St. Lawrence. 
He was killed, and his line shattered by a discharge of grape. 
Arnold's leg was broken by a musket shot, and he was carried 
to the rear. Captain Morgan* captured the advanced batter- 
ies. After a gallant conflict of three hours, he was compelled 
to surrender with his detachment. 

AFFAIRS IN THE SOUTH. 

31. Virginia had been actively employed. The day 

after the battle of Lexington, Lord Dunmore removed twenty 
barrels of gunpowder from the magazine at Williamsburg. 
Patrick lienry collected volunteers for their recovery. A con- 
flict was delayed by the Governor's agreeing to pay for the 

* Daniel Morpran (1737-1802) was a waggoner and farmer. In youth he removed 
from New Jersey to Virginia. He was a private under Braddock. He was with 
Arnold on the march up the Kennebec. He died at Winchester, Va. 



,ro HL'iTORV OF THE UNITED STATES. 

])()W(lcr. Diinmorc llicn sought refuge on board the Fowcy 
nuin-of-w.ir, in York River, and sailed to Norfolk to prepare 
means for the subjugaiion of the i)rovincc. He was defeated 
at (Ireat ilridgi-, twelve miles south of Norfolk — a point which 
cominandcd tlu^ a])proa(hes on tliat side. Norfolk could no 
longer hi- held by him. lie again found safety on a man-of- 
^ war. The i)atriots occupied the city. It was fu- 
'' * riously bombarded by the fugitive (lovernor, and 
was set on fire by sailors and marines. Nine-tenths 
of the buildings, and pr()j)erty valued at a million and a half 
of (h)llars, were destroyed. Dunmore ])roclaimed freedom to 
tile negroes, and invited them to take U|) arms against their 
masters. He endeavored to retain connnand of the C'hesa- 
peake, and encamped his promiscuous followers on an island, 
under protection of thc^ fleet. The fleet was driven off, and 
the encampment l)r()ken up, (hiring the next summer, ])y (xen- 
eral Andrew Lewis.* 

32. In North and South CaroHna the royal gover- 
nors wvvc driven to seek sei urity on board the armed vessels 
in the harbors. In the former province a large body of 
^ royalists, Highlanders, and others were defeated, 
_ ' during (he winter, at Moore's Creek, l)y C^olonel 
Caswell and an inferior force of uulitia. The Rev- 
olution was sj)rea(ling everywhere, and the spirit of resistance 
was becoming more resolute. There was little method in the 
several movements. The ])l()w was struck when the chance 
of striking a blow was offered. 

SECOND YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION.— 1776. 

^^. There was much complaint of the inaction of 
General Washington. Congress urged an early attack on 

'■'" Anilicw Lewis, of Vitf:ini;i (i7;,o-i78o),c<>mm.in(lo(l at Point Pirnsaiit. Ho was 
Willi VVasliin^lon at lM>r( Nrcrssity, 175.,, ;viul in Uratliloik's drfcat. lie made the 
treaty with tlie V,\\ Nations, 176H. lie was reionjinendeil l)y Washini,'t()n as one '-( 
the four Major-Cenerals of tlie ("ouiiiunt.il Army. His statue is on tlie Washington 
Monument, Richmond, Va. 



jiiK ri:covi-:ry of boston. 



II! 



Boston. The Ihitish Government had been busy during the 
late months. Tliey had proclaimed martial law throughout 
tlie colonies. They luul hired Hessian and other (lerman 
mercenaries ; and encouraged tlie cajjture of colonial i)r()i)erty 
at sea. General Howe was in command in Boston, ar.d had 
received strong reinfon ements. General (iage and (General 
Burgoyne had returned to Juigland. 

THE rjEcovEriY of boston. 

34. Washington was prepared to gratify tlic wishes of 
the i)eople, and to execute the orders of Congress. A heavy 
cannonade from the American batteries was showered upon 
the fortifications of Boston for three successive nights, in the 
beginning of March. On the third night, Dorchester Heights, 
which commanded the city on the south, were seized by 2,000 
American troops. When morning broke, and Howe saw the 
hostile guns frowning down upon him, he knew that the city 
and the fleet in theharbor were at the mercy of the Americans. 
The recapture of the heights was hopeless. An informal 
-_ agreement was made for Ihc undisturbed evacua- 
tion of Boston.* It had been occupied seven years 
by the British. The embarkation of the troops, and of the 
loyalists who withdrew with them, was long delayed by storms. 
At length the fleet sailed for Halifax, to await future oppor- 
tunities and further orders. f 'I'he Americans entered Hoston, 
and General Putnam was ])lac.ed in ( oniinand of the town. 
The estates and j)roi)ertyof refugees were confiscated and sold. 
The proceeds were apj)lie(l to the ])ublic service. Washing- 
ton apprehended that Howe would attack New York, and has- 



♦ Boston was regained by the name strategical operations as were afterwards cm- 
ployed by Napoleon Ronapartc- to cxik'1 the Urilish from Tonlon. 

+ There is a legend in Hoston, " tliat, on tlie anniversary niglit of Britain's discom- 
fiture, the jjhosts of the ancient governors of Massachusetts still ^lide tlirmiKh Pro- 
vince House. And, last of all, comes a tiirure shrouded in a military cloak, tossing 
his clenched hands into the air, and stamping' his iron-shod bof)fs upon the freestone 
steps, with a semblance of feverish despair, but wiUiout tiie sound of a foot tramp." 
— Hawthoknb. 



112 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tened thither after sending forward part of his army for its 
defence 

THE BRITISH PLAN FOR THE CAMPAIGN. 

35. The British proposed three objects for the cam- 
paign of 1776 : to rehevc (2uebec, which was still threatened 
by Arnold, and invade the Northern Colonies from Canada ; 
to make a descent upon the Southern Provinces ; and to ac- 
quire the city and colony of New York. No fear was enter- 
tained for Boston. Boston, however, was lost, and its loss in- 
terrupted and delayed other operations. Canada was relieved. 
General Clinton sailed early in the year to execute the second 
design, which was the special scheme of the king himself. He 
proceeded southwards, after touching at New York, to unite 
his forces with the royal governors. 

BRITISH REPULSE AT FORT MOULTRIE. 

36. Clinton was joined at the Cape Fear River by 

Admiral Sir Peter Parker with a fleet, which brought Corn- 
wallis'" and seven regiments from Ireland. They sailed 
against Charleston, which had been put in a state of defence 
by the energy of John Rutledge, the first President of South 
Carolina, under its new Constitution. General Charles Lee \ 
had arrived in time to take command of the defenders, but his 
temper rendered his services unwelcome and inefficient. 

37. The chief defence of the city and harbor was a 
fort of palmetto logs on Sullivan's Island, mounting thirty 



* Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805), Earl and afterwards Marquis Cornwallis, served 
in the Seven Years' War. He was aide-de-camp to George III., and Governor of the 
Tower. He became Viceroy of Ireland, and Governor-General of India. 

t Charles Lee (1731-1782) entered the British army at a very early age. He distin 
guished himself in the French and Indian War. He lived with the Mohawks, and 
was made a chief, under the name of " Boiling Water." He served under Burgoyne 
in Portugal. He was aid to Poniatowski, King of Poland, and was sent as his Am- 
bassador to Turkey. He returned to America in 1775, and resigned his commission 
in the royal army, to accept one in the American. He was a prodigy of leanness. 
He was highly accomplished, but vain, arrogant, and passionate. 



BRITISH REPULSE AT FORT MOULTRIE. 



^13 



guns. It was commanded by Colonel Moultrie (mooi'tre)^ and 
bore his name. Clinton landed in the rear of the fort. Lee 
urged its abandonment, declaring it " a slaughter-pen." An 
inlet of the sea, which could not be forded, separated Sulli- 
van's Island from Long Island, on which the British had dir,. 
embarked. The same 
difficulty frustrated a 
second attempt to take 
the fortress by land. 
The fleet passed the 
- _ bar, an d 

bombarded 
the fort for ten hours, 
without producing any 
serious damage. The 
balls sank in the soft 
palmetto trunks, with- 
out splintering or dis- 
placing them,* Clin- 
ton returned to New 

York, and the Caro- john rutledge. 

linas were not annoyed again for two years. 

38. A gallant act was performed by Sergeant Jas- 
per during the bombardment. The flag-staff was broken by 
a ball, and the flag of South Carolina fell over the parapet. 
In the midst of the heavy fire, Jasper leapt down, recovered 
the flag, and replaced it on the ramparts. 




THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.— 4th July, 1776. 

39. The Virginia Convention directed their delegates in 
Congress " to propose to that body to declare the United Col- 
onies free, independent, and sovereign States." William 



=•= The frigates sent to the support of Clinton ran aground, and stuck fast in the 
shoals of the " Middle Channel." The Actaeon could not be got off, and was burnt 
by her officers the next morning. 



114 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Henry Lee, one of those delegates introduced the proposition. 
A committee was appointed to draw up a suitable Declara- 




SERGEANT JASPER REPLACING THE FLAG ON FORT MOULTRII',. 

tion. It was composed by Thomas Jefferson,* and was slight- 
ly altered by Benjamin Franklin \ and John Adams. It was 

* Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. The lead- 
ing- events in his life are prominent in this histor>'. He was sent to the Continental 
Congress in 1775. He was Governor of Virginia in 1779 ; Minister Plenipotentiary to 
Paris in 1784 ; Secretary of State in 1790 ; Vice-President in 1797 ; and President in 
1801. He was buried on the mountain-side below his residence at Monticello. Con- 
gress appropriated $5,000 in 1S79 to erect a monument there. Nothing had been done 
when Congress, in the spring of 1882, appropriated $10,000 for the purpose. The in- 
scription placed on Jefferson's tomb, by his own direction, was : " Author of the 
Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, 
and Father of the University of Virginia." 

+ Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790'! was born in Boston, was apprenticed tohisbrother 
as a printer ; went to Philadelphia at the age of 17 ; and visited London. He returned 
to Philadelphia in 1726 ; he published '' Poor Richard's Almanac " in 1732. In 1752, he 
drew lightning from the clouds, with a key tied to the string of a kite. In 1753, he 
was Postmaster-General for America. In 1757, he was sent to England as agent for 
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia. He was sent to France, and negoti- 



DE CLARA TION OF INDEPENDENCE. 1 1 5 

accepted by Congress, and signed by the members* on the 4th 
of July.f An oath was required of all officers, acknowledging 
''the Thirteen United States," by name, "to be free, in- 
dependent, and sovereign States." 

THE PEACE COMMISSION. 

40. General Howe was appointed Commander-in- 
chief of the royal forces in America.^; Reinforcements, and 
the cooperation of a fleet under Lord Howe, were prom- 
ised. The two brothers were appointed Peace Commission- 
ers, with the hope of winning the colonies back. To break 
their concert, separate amnesties and separate restoration were 
proffered. The negotiations were protracted, but were fruit- 
less, since complete independence was demanded. The failure 
to arrange terms of reconciliation was attended with the active 
prosecution of hostilities, and the endeavor to accomplish the 
third and principal scheme of the British campaign. 



atcd the alliance with that country ; and in 1782, the Treaty of Peace with England. 
He returned, and became President of Pennsylvania. 

* John Hancock (1737-1793), a wealthy and patriotic merchant of Boston, President 
of the Continental Congress, was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

+ The citizens were collected in the streets of Philadelphia, anxiously awaiting the 
decision. The bell-ringer had been in the steeple all 
day in readiness. He had left a boy below to give 
hira prompt notice. As the time passed by, he mut- 
tered : " They will never do it ! They will never do 
it ! " About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a loud hurrah 
came from below, and the boy shouted, ''Ring! 
Ring ! " A merry peal rang out, announcing " Liber- 
ty through all the land, unto all the inhabitants there- 
of." Such v/as the inscription on the bell. The royal 
arms v/crc torn down, and burnt in i!ic street. Bon- 
fires were kindled, and the houses illuminated. In New 
York, the leaden statue of George HI. was thrown 
over, cut into pieces, and melted into bullets. In Bos- 
ton, the Declaration was welcomed with cheers. Like 
demonstrations v/erc made at Norfolk, Charleston, 
Savannah, and other places. The Declaration was liberty bell. 

read to the soldiers, at the head of the brigades, and received with enthusiasm. 

X Hov/e's whole forces, if united, would have amounted to about 35,000 men, in- 
cluding 13,000 Hessians. The Americans in arras were reported to amount 10200,000, 
but they were widely scattered, and could never be collected in large bodies. 




liC? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



THE BATTLE OF LONQ ISLAND. 

41. Howe sailed from Halifax in the end of June, and 
planted himself on Staten Island. Here he was joined by- 
Lord Howe and the fleet, and by Parker and Clinton from 
South Carolina. Ten thousand men and forty cannon were 
landed on Long Island, to expel the Americans under General 
Sullivan, who lay before Brooklyn. The patriots were com- 
pletely entrapped. They were assailed in front and 
rear, routed, and driven into the town. Fifteen 
hundred were killed or captured. The shattered remnant was 
skilfully withdrawn by Washington, the second midnight, and 
transferred to New York. 



27 Aug. 



THE CAPTURE OF NEW YORK. 

42. The English fleet commanded the harbor of 

New York, the 
Hudson, and the 
East River. T h e 
victorious troops 
could be easily 
landed at any 
point. Many in- 
habitants of the 
city earnestly fav- 
ored the royal 
cause. Washing- 
ton's army was dis- 
organized, and 
crippled by deser- 
tion. He left the 
city with the main 
body, and e n - 
camped on Har- 




JOHN HANCOCK. 



laem 
delay 



Heights. Putnam remained behind with a small force to 
the advance of the enemy. Manhattan Island was 



RETREAT THROUGH THE JERSEYS. uy 

evacuated. Forts Washington and Lee, on opposite banks 
of the Hudson, were retained. The Americans were driven 
from the field at White Plains, and Washington fell back to 
a more secure position. This was soon abandoned, and he 
passed over into New Jersey, to obstruct the British advance 
upon Philadelphia. General Charles Lee remained on the 
eastern bank of the Hudson, with the New England regi- 
ments, whose term of service had nearly expired. The Amer- 
ican army was utterly broken up. Scarcely 2,500 men held 
together in one body. Fortunately, Howe was deficient in 
enterprise. His heart was not in his work. Washington was 
cautious, stubborn, and resolute ; and the Northern winter 
had arrived. 

THE RETREAT THROUGH THE JERSEYS. 

43. Winter did not end the campaign. Fort Wash- 
ington was taken soon after Washington crossed the Hudson. 
Cornwallis followed him. Fort Lee was evacuated. The Amer- 
icans retreated, with the loss of their guns and stores. Corn- 
wallis still pressed forward. The Americans fell back behind 
the Passaic ; next, behind the Raritan ; next, to Princeton ; 
then to Trenton, where the tattered and scattered remnant 
^ _ crossed the Delaware. The British could not pass 

the river for want of boats. The chance of captur- 
ing Philadelphia and the Congress was lost by the delay. 
Congress hastened in alarm to Baltimore. The royal troops 
pitched their camp along the eastern shore of the Delaware. 
During this celebrated retreat through the Jerseys,* General 
Charles Lee had been ordered to join the retiring army. Two 
of his Jersey regiments deserted. He was himself surprised 
and captured. He was held at first as a deserter from the 
royal service, but was exchanged after long detention. 



♦ The devastation of the Jerseys by the royal troops, on this march, seriously dam- 
aged the royal cause in that quarter. The British destroyed the Collef,'c and Library 
at Princeton, Rittenhouse's Orrery, and the I^Jblic Library at Trenton. 



Ii8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



THE PASSAGE OF THE DELA^A^ARE. 

44. An early termination of the war was now expected. 
Seventy thousand Americans had been in arms during the 
regular campaign. Small and scattered bands — ragged, worn 
out, foot-sore, and dispirited — alone remained. But Howe 
had divided his forces, and sent Clinton, with Parker's fleet, 
against Newport, in Rhode Island, which was easily taken. 
Moreover, Washington did not despair while others were 
despairing. On Christmas night he crossed the Delaware 
with 2,400 men, to surprise the Hessians at Trenton, in the 
midst of their carousals. It was a night of tempest. Masses 
of ice were swept down by the dangerous current. The pas- 
sage was rendered dim and ghastly by the falling snow. The 
troops were not drawn up on the Jersey shore till four o'clock 
in the morning. A high wind, with driving sleet, chilled the 
men more than the passage of the river had done. Sullivan 
reported the muskets to be wet. *' Use the bayonet," said 
Washington, " for the town must be taken, and I am resolved 
to take it." It was daylight before the attack began. The 
Hessians were completely surprised, and utterly routed. Their 
commander was slain ; their stores were captured ; 946 were 
taken prisoners ; only 162 escaped. The Americans did not 
lose a man. Washington at once recrossed the Delaware. An 
English writer of the time remarked : *' This small success 
wonderfully raised the spirit of the Americans." It was natural 
that it should do so. It was a brilliant exploit, following a 
long train of disasters. It revived hope. 

45. Congress endeavored to give permanence to 
the army, and to fill its scanty ranks. Twenty pounds in 
money, and one hundred acres of land, were offered as a 
bounty to every private who should volunteer. Washington 
was, for six months, empowered to appoint and to remove all 
officers below the rank of brigadier. This reveals the ineffi- 
ciency of the regimental and company commanders. To turn 



THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 119 

his victory to account, and to arrest the movements of the 
enemy, Washington recrossed the Delaware, and reoccupied 
Trenton, during the closing days of the year. Yet the diffi- 
culties of the time seemed too great to be overcome. Congress 
had neither funds for the army, nor credit with its own people. 
Means for the most pressing needs were obtained only from 
private liberality, or by the pledge of private fortunes. 

46. The projected invasion from the North was frus- 
trated by Arnold. He had been withdrawn from Canada, but 
had been ordered to oppose any advance from that quarter. 
He hastily constructed a flotilla on Lake Champlain, and en- 
gaged the British under General Carleton. Two of his ves- 
sels were lost ; one was taken, the other sunk. The rest hur- 
ried up the lake, but were overtaken. The hindmost was 
captured ; the foremost reached Ticonderoga. The rest were 
run ashore and burnt. The lake was recovered by the Brit- 
ish ; but their advance had been retarded till the approach of 
winter rendered the prosecution of invasion too hazardous. 

THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION, 1777. 

47. The third year of the war opened with dark 
prospects, notwithstanding the success at Trenton. The 
war had become popular in England, though maintained at a 
heavy outlay, and earnestly opposed by an intelligent minority. 
It had already cost Britain ^20,000,000. It had lost much 
of the early enthusiasm of the Americans, in consequence of 
frequent disasters and accumulating burdens. The army 
could scarcely be recruited, even with high bounties.* The 
militia could not be depended on. Conscription and a 
draft were proposed ; but every device was preferred to the 
inconsistency and uncertainty of compelling men to fight for 
their freedom and independence. 

* The British had previously offered bounties out of the vacant lands to the 
Highlanders, in order to induce them to volunteer for the war in America— where 
many of their fellow-countrymen were already settled. 



I20 Iff STORY OF TIFK UNITED STATES. 



THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 

48. Washington was at Trenton, with 5,000 untrained 
men. Comwallis had gone to New York, on his way to 
England. He returned to the Jerseys on learning the disas- 
ters at Trenton. Washington fell back as he advanced. The 
little stream of the Assipink divided the two armies. The 
British proposetl to force its passage as soon as the morning 
came. Washington left his camp-fires burning, and marched 

rai)idly against a ]3ritish brigade at Princeton. 

'J'' He fell suddenly upon it at sunrise, and routed it. 

The empty camp in front, the cannonade behind, 

informed Cornwallis of the stratagem of the Americans, and of 

its success. He pursued them, but too late. Washington was 

secure in the highlands round Morristown. 

49. The British forces were dispersed, and their en- 
ergies were wasted on trivial and disconnected enterprises. The 
result was " a war of posts, surprises, and skirmishes, instead 
of a war of battles." Connecticut was ravaged by Tryon, the 
former Governor of New York, and Newport was surprised. 

THE UNITED STATES FLAG. 

50. A flag for the Thirteen United Colonies was 

adopted by Congress during the summer. It had been used 
in the previous year by the army before Boston. It consisted 
of thirteen stars on a blue field, and thirteen alternate stripes 
of red and white for the fly.* 

ARRIVAL OF LAFAYETTE. 

51. Benjamin Franklin and two other Commission- 
ers had been sent to France to invite its alliance with the 
colonies in revolt, and to i)rocure aid for the maintenance of 



* The flap: was adopted by the army, in 1776, on the rejection of the petition of 
the Continental Congress, and the reception of the king's address. 



ARRIVAL OF LAFAYETTE. 



the war. They were warmly received, and met with marked 
encouragement. A subsidy and other suppHes were granted. 
American vessels were 
welcomed into French 
and Spanish ports. An 
open alliance was post- 
poned, but numerous fa- 
cilities were accorded, 
and a strong feeling in 
favor of the American 
patriots was displayed. 
Applications for employ- 
ment in America be- 
came so frequent as to 
prove annoying. The 
young Marquis De La- 
fayette,* not yet twen- 
ty-one years of age, ten- 
dered his services. His 
family, the British ambas- 
sador, and the French king opposed his departure, 
bought the Duke of Kingston's yacht, crossed the Atlantic, 
arrived at Charleston, was welcomed by Washington as a mem- 
ber of his staff, and appointed a Major-General. Baron 
DeKalbf and other officers attended him. 

52. About the same time also came Count Casimir Pu- 




LAFAYETTE. 



He 



* Marie Jean Paul Roche Gilbert Moticr, Marquis Dc Lafayette (1757-1834) was 
very prominent in three revolutions: the American Revolution, the first French 
Revolution, and the revolution in France in July, 1830. He belonged to one of the 
oldest, noblest, and wealthiest families of France. He reached America in April, 
1777. He revisited America in 1784, on the invitation of Washington ; and in 1824, 
on the invitation of Congress. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
National Guards of Paris two days after the fall of the Ikistilc ; and again, forty 
years afterwards. He was a prisoner of the Austrians at Olmlltz, 1792-1797. He 
was almost rescued from captivity by Dr. Bollmann and a young Carolmian named 
Huger. He was the means of placing Louis Philippe on the French throne in 1830. 

t John, Baron DcKalb (1732-1780), was a native of Alsace, and was a French Briga- 
dicr-Genera). He had been sent to America as a secret agent in 1762. 



122 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



laski,* 



who had seized Stanislaus 




KOSCIUSKO. 



{sia/n's-las) Poniatowski, 
King of Poland, in the 
streets of Warsaw, and 
had been outlawed in 
consequence. T h a d - 
deus Kosciusko,! the 
celebrated Polish patri- 
ot was already in the 
country, having been 
driven from home by 
a love affair. Baron 
Steuben, J; an officer of 
distinction in the wars 
of Frederick the Great, 
came the next year.§ 
Other foreigners also 
arrived. 



BURGOVNE'S INVASION. 



53. The project of an invasion from Canada was 
renewed. It was strongly urged by Carleton, the Governor. 
It was hoped that New England might be cut off from the 



* Casimir Pulaski (1747-1779) was a Lithuanian noble. He rebelled against the 
King of Poland in 1769. His father was captured and executed. He was commander- 
in-chief of the Polish insurgents in 1770. Stanislaus was seized by him in 1771. 

t Thaddcus Kosciusko (1755-1817) was of a noble Lithuanian family. He formed 
an unhappy attachment for the daughter of the Grand Marshal of Lithuania, which 
occasioned his coming to America in 1776. He was the engineer of the works at 
West Point. Having returned to Poland, he became Major-General of the patriots 
in 1789. In 1794, he w.ns Dictator of Poland. He was captured by the Russians and 
imprisoned. He was released ir. 1796, and revisited the United States the ne.xt year. 
In 1806 he declined Napoleon's invitations. 

X Frederic William Augustus, Baron Von Steuben (1731-1795), had been aide-de- 
camp of Frederick of Prussia, and was a Licutcnant-Gcneral in Baden, He died 
at Steubenville. To none of the foreign officers was the revolutionary army more 
indebted than to him. 

§ The eagerness of foreigners for appointments in the American army is shown by 
an advertisement, which appeared in the rcnnsyi--iinia Cazeite^ si.\ w«eks after the 
battle of Lexington : " A gentleman, who served all last war in the King of Prus- 
sia's army, ofTers his services to the province of Pennsylvania." 



DURCOYNE'S INVASION. ^23 

Other colonies by a simultaneous advance up the Hudson. 
Sir John Burgoyne* was appointed to command the expedi- 
tion from the north. Carleton tendered his resignation in 
consequence of being thus superseded. Burgoyne was ordered 
to engage the services of the Indians. He obeyed his orders, 
though disinclined to employ them, as Carleton had been. 
With 7,000 British and German troops, and a large body of 
savages, he ascended Lake Champlain. St. Clair withdrew 
from Ticonderoga, abandoned Fort Edward, and fell back on 
the Mohawk River. A sad story is associated with this with- 
drawal. Jenny Macrae, a young and beautiful girl, was be- 
trothed to an English officer. She fell into the hands of the 
Indians, and was shot and scalped in their flight. f 

54. Burgoyne's advance through the forest, after 
leaving the lake, was slow and difficult. He sometimes made 
scarcely more than a mile in the day. He was a fortnight in 
transporting his supplies to the Hudson River, a distance of 
eighteen miles. He was rarely able to collect provisions suf- 
ficient for more than four days. A strong detachment was 
sent, under a German officer, to seize the stores at Benning- 
ton. It was defeated by Colonel Stark and the Vermont 
militia. The reinforcements were also defeated. Stark is 
said to have cheered his men l)y declaring : "We must beat 
to-day, or Molly Stark's a widow." X Another force had been 



♦ Sir John Burgoyne (1730-1792) had distinguished himself as a Brigadicr-Gcncral 
in Portufjal, in 1762. His surrender at Saratoga deprived him of the personal regard 
of George III. He was tried before a committee of Parliament, and was vindicated. 
He wrote well, spoke well, and was a popular dramatist. 

t The story of Jenny Macrae (mac-ra'), as told by Bancroft, and as repeated by 
most others who have noticed her fate, represents her as having been tomahawked 
by one Indian in a quarrel with another for the possession of the captive. This tra- 
dition has been denied, on the strength of later investigations and further testimony. 
She was undesignedly shot by some American troops, in a skirmish with the Indians 
who had captured her. She was scalped ; and the scalp, with her long and beautiful 
hair, was carried to Burgoyne. She was only twenty years of age. 

The tale was commented cm by Burke, in the British Parliament, as " the murder 
of Miss Macrae, on the morning of her marriage." 

X Doubts have been expressed of the truth of this story. The name of Stark's wife 
seems to have been Elizabeth, not Molly. 



124 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



sent to his right, to sweep the Mohawk Valley. It was com- 
posed largely of Indians under Brant. Fort Schuyler (Rome) 
was besieged. General Herkimer fell into an ambuscade at 
Oris'kany, and was mortally wounded. On the approach 
of Arnold, the Indians deserted, and the expedition of St. 
Leger's was completely frustrated. General Schuyler was 
removed from the command of the American army in the 
North, as disaster was ascribed to his indecision and incapac- 
ity. Horatio Gates,* a man more vain, but not more able, 
was appointed in his place. 

THE SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE, 

55. Both wings of Burgoyne's army had thus been 
defeated. His force was reduced to 6,000 men. Washing- 
ton had sent some of his best officers to oppose him — Arnold, 

Lincoln, Morgan. The hope of 
a successful invasion had almost 
vanished. Still Burgoync 
pressed forward, looking for the 
advance expected from New 
York. No help came. An en- 
gagement took place on Bemis's 
Heights, near Stillwater. It was 
bloody, but indeci- 
sive, A second bat- 
tle, more damaging to 
the invaders, was fought on near- 
ly the same ground. Morgan's 
Virginia Rifles shot down Gen- 
eral Fraser,t one of the ablest and most esteemed of the British 




19 Sept. 
7 Oct. 



GENERAL BURGOYNE. 



* Horatio Gates (1728-1806) was born in England, and had been an officer in the 
English army. He was with Braddock in his defeat. He took up his abode in Vir- 
ginia. In 1778, he was involved in intrigues to supplant Washington. When ap- 
pointed to the command of the Southern army, General Charles Lee said to him : 
" Take care that you do not exchange Northern laurels for Southern willoivs.'" 

t General Eraser was the son of the notorious Simon Eraser, Lord Lovat,who was 
beheaded in 1747, with forfeiture of his estates, for complicity in the Jacobite rebel- 



BATTLE OF THE BRANDYWINE. 



125 



17 Oct. 



officers. Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga with shattered 
forces, only 2,000 of which were British. He was surrounded 
by thrice his number. He had barely rations for five days. 

Clinton had moved from New York, but too late. 

There was no escape. The whole army surrendered. 
It was stipulated that it should be sent back to England. 
Congress did not execute the terms of the convention. Bur- 
goyne himself was permitted to go home on parole. He was 
ultimately exchanged for Laurens, the American envoy to 
Holland, who was captured at sea. 



BATTLE OF THE BRANDVWINE, AND LOSS OF PHILA- 
DELPHIA. 

56. The surrender of Burgoyne exercised a decisive 
influence on the for- 
tunes of the war. 
France had through- 
out given much secret 
aid to the revolted 
colonies. It soon en- 
tered into open alli- 
ance with them, and 
engaged in war with 
Great Britain. The 
struggle was earnestly 
maintained in Amer- 
ica ; but the brilliant 
success at Saratoga 
was balanced by 
serious reverses else- 
where. Sir William 
Howe withdrew from 
the Jerseys to attack Philadelphia by water. Learning 

lion of 1745. George III. was deeply affected by the consequences descending upon 
his son, and furthered his fortunes in many ways. 




GENERAL GATES. 



126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

that the Delaware was obstructed, he directed his course to 
the head of Chesapeake Bay. Washington, who had been 
:oined by Lafayette, and other foreign officers, took up his 
TT q L. position at Wilmington. When Howe approached, 
^ * he retreated behind the Brandywine. He was 
attacked here, and was dislodged with heavy loss. Lafayette 
was severely wounded. Philadelphia was abandoned, and was 
occupied by the British. Two months later, Lord Howe ar- 
rived with the fleet. 

57. Washington attempted to repeat the operation 

which had been attended with such striking success at Tren- 
ton and at Princeton. Howe's main camp was at German- 
town. It had been weakened by sending off numerous de- 
Ort tachments. Washington reached Germantown by 
a night march, and surprised the British. The 
ground was difficult. A heavy fog concealed the movements. 
The attacking columns were thrown into alarm and confusion. 
The ammunition was soon exhausted. Expected victory was 
converted into bloody defeat. Washington remained in his 
strong lines, when Howe challenged him to battle, two months 
afterwards. He took up his winter quarters at Valley Forge, 
on the south bank of the river Schuylkill. 

VALLEY FORGE. 

58. The winter at Valley Forge has been celebrated 
for the hardships endured, and for the resolution which tri- 
umphed over despondency and peril. The hardships were 
great. They have since been exceeded and more patiently 
borne. The resolution displayed was due chiefly to the firm- 
ness of Washington. The army was scanty in numbers,* weak, 
disheartened, and unfurnished for the severities of the cli- 
mate. More than a fourth of the men were *' barefoot, and 
otherwise naked." Blankets and clothing were alike wanting. 

* In February, 1778. there were only five thousand men fit for duty to be found in 
camp. 



MEASURES OF CONGRESS. 



127 



Food was scarce, even amid the abundance of the country 
around them. Dirt and misery produced disease. The rude log 
huts, disposed Hke the streets of a town, sheltered eleven thou- 
sand men, most of whom straggled off and disappeared in this 
period of distress. Washington shared the sorrows of his men, 
and bore with serenity more trying sorrows of his own. He was 
exposed to calumny, jealousy, and intrigue. His officers deserted 
him, chargeswere multiplied against him, and efforts were made 
to remove him from the chief command. One of his bitterest 
assailants was 
made Inspector- 
General. This new 
appointee was soon 
succeeded by Bar- 
on Steuben, whose 
energy and intelli- 
gence drilled the 
d is o r ganized 
troops into effi- 
cient soldiers. In 
all trial, in all 
doubt, in all gloom, 
Washington pre- 
served his cool 
judgment, his 
steady determina- 
tion, his unselfish 
patriotism. 




BARON STEUBEN. 



MEASURES OF CONGRESS. 

59. Congress had been busily employed during these 
grave military transactions. It appointed a new Committee of 
War, vv'ith Gates at its head. It adopted the " Articles of 
Confederation and Perpetual Union," which did not re- 
ceive the assent of the several colonies till 1781. It endeav- 



128 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ored to restore the value of the currency, which had already 
fallen to a quarter of its nominal value. It took indiscreet 
anil ineffectual measures for the accomplishment of this ob- 
ject. It also decreed the amount of the contributions to be 
furnished respectively by the States of the Confederation, for 
the general purposes of the Union. 

FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION, 1778. 

60. The alliance with France was completed during 
the winter. The war ceased to be simply a struggle between 

j> the mother country and her colonies. Hostilities 
/iUi were no longer confined to America. The treaty 
stipulated " the effectual maintaining of the lib- 
erty, sovereignty, and independence of the Thirteen United 
States of America, as well in matters of government as of com- 
merce." Independence had indeed become the determina- 
tion of the main part of the American people. The excesses 
of the British Government, the severities of the military, the 
ravages and outrages of the war, the savage deeds of the In- 
dians, had embittered their feelings and rooted out old attach- 
ments. Their long resistance while conducting the war alone, 
gave them renewed confidence now that they had the avowed 
support of France. 

THE DEATH OF CHATHAM. 

61. The British had already sacrificed twenty thou- 
sand men and ^25,000,000 in the effort to reestablish their 
authority. They had recovered nothing beyond the range of 
their guns. Henceforth France was enlisted in the war. In- 
dependence seemed to be assured. Proposals of conciliation, 
supported in Parliament by the Duke of Richmond, were re- 
jected, because they did not concede independence. When 
Richmond moved his resolutions, they were opposed by Chat- 
ham, in Chatham's last speech. The old earl, recently risen 
from a sick-bed, feeble with age and tottering with gout, rested 



CONDITION OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



I29 



on his son and his son-in-law, and denounced the proposal in 
the House of Lords,* When he attempted a second reply, 
he swooned, and was carried from the hall. He died a month 
later, and was buried at the public expense in Westminster 
Abbey. 

CONDITION OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



62. The situation of Great Britain was alarming. 

The hope of subjugating the Americans had vanished from 
nearly every mind 
except from the 
mind of the stub- 
born and half-wit- 
ted king. Lord 
North, the Prime 
Minister, was in 
despair. He de- 
sired to close the 
war, and was re- 
strained from re- 
signing his high 
office only by the 
personal entreaty 
of his sovereign. 
The war was fear- 
fully expensive. 
Commerce and 
manufactures were 
crippled by it. The revenues were overtaxed. The national 
debt was becoming insupportable. The army in America was 
recruited with difficulty. A new and greater war was now to 




SIR HENRY CLINTON. 



* In this speech he said, " I ani old and infirm ; I have one foot, more than one 
foot, in the grave. I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me ; that I am still 
able to vote against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy. 
Let us at least make one effort, and if wc must fall, let us fall like men ! " 
6 



130 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

be added to the older one, and it was strongly apprehended 
that other enemies would spring up.* 

63. Sir William Howe had served reluctantly against 
the Americans. His resignation was at length accepted. He 
was succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton,t who was accompanied 
by the Earl of Carlisle and other peace commissioners. A 
singular incident arose out of this vain effort at conciliation. 
The young Lafayette challenged the earl, for harsh reflections 
on the King of France, in one of his communications. The 
challenge was of course declined by Carlisle, who answered 
that he was responsible for his public acts only to his own 
sovereign. 

RECOVERY OF PHILADELPHIA AND BATTLE OF 
MONMOUTH. 

64. Philadelphia could not be held by the British, 

as a French fleet of twelve vessels of the line was expected in 
the Delaware. The city was evacuated as soon as the peace 
negotiations proved hopeless. The army crossed the river, 
and moved slowly towards New York, The heavy stores were 
sent round by sea. Washington left Valley Forge, with a 
force nearly equal to Clinton's, and hung on his retreating 
steps. He overtook the British rear at Monmouth Court- 
^ House. General Charles Lee, who led the ad- 
0% T ' vance, was ordered to make an immediate attack, 
if possible ; and was promised speedy support. 
The engagement was begun with spirit, and resisted with cour- 
age. Lee withdrew to await the arrival of the main body. 
The retiring troops were closely pressed by the British, and 
thrown into some confusion. Washington rode up and re- 

* A contemporary annalist, who was surely Burke, observed : " In this double war- 
fare with old friends and old enemies, not only bereaved of her natural strength, but 
a great part of it turned against her, she {Britain) is left alone to endure the unequal 
combat, abandoned by all mankind, and without even the pretence of a friend, or the 
name of an ally in the world." 

t Sir Henry Cl'nton ( -1795^ son of George Clinton, Governor of New York in 
1743, and grandson of the Earl of Lincoln. 



THE MASSACRE OF WYOMING, 131 

buked Lee with harshness and passion."' He rallied the dis- 
ordered lines, drew up the main body, and renewed the battle. 
The British were repulsed, but no further advantage was 
gained. The men were worn out, the heat was excessive, and 
night was at hand. Fifty-nine soldiers had perished by heat 
alone. The British retreated during the night to the high 
grounds of Neversink.f The march through the Jerseys cost 
them two thousand men. 

65. The French fleet, commanded by Count D'Estaing 
{des-tang), appeared on the coast at the time of Clinton's re- 
treat to New York. An attack on that city was proposed, 
but was deemed unadvisable. D'Estaing sailed against New- 
port. Greene J and Lafayette marched against it, with ten 
thousand men. Lord Howe followed D'Estaing. A storm 
separated the fleets after an indecisive action. The French 
vessels were much damaged, and sought Boston for repairs. 
They were pursued by the British, who had also suffered seri- 
ous injury. Sullivan was compelled to renounce the invest- 
ment of Newport. Next day Clinton landed with four thou- 
sand men from New York, for its defence. 

THE MASSACRE OF WYOMING. 

66. Little was achieved on either side by this cam- 
paign. The peace negotiations retarded its opening. Both 
parties were sorely straitened for means, and anxious about the 
results of the French alliance. Philadelphia was regained by 
the patriots, and New Jersey cleared of the British. That was 
all. But the year was rendered memorable by a tale of Indian 



* For his conduct in this battle, Lcc was tried by a court martial, and was sus- 
pended for twelve months. He was afterwards dismisced from the army in conse- 
quence of disputes with Washington. 

t The peninsula of Nevcrsink had been cut ofT from the mainland, and converted 
into an island, during the preceding winter, by a breach of the sea. 

X Nathaniel Greene (i7<;o-i786) was of Quaker parentage. He took up arms after 
the battle of Lexington, and was commissioned as a brigadier. He accompanied Ar- 
nold in the terrible march to Quebec. He died in Georgia of sunstroke. He was 
buried at Savannah, but his tomb is wholly unknown. 



132 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



horrors, and by a very different tale of Virginia daring and ad- 
venture. The Vale of Wyoming', and the massacre per- 
petrated there, have been commemorated in verse by one of 
the most poHshed English poets, with more grace than accu- 
racy : 

On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming ! 
Although the wild flower on thy ruined wall, 
And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring 
Of what thy gentle people did befall ; 
Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all 
That see the Atlantic wave thy morn restore. 

67. The Valley of Wyoming lies on both sides of the 
Susquehanna, below the junction of the Lackawanna. It is 

inclosed between two mountain 
ranges. The soil is rich ; the 
climate pleasant and healthful. 
There is a charming intermixture 
of hill and glade, of meadow and 
upland. It was claimed by both 
Pennsylvania and Connecticut. 
It had been recently settled by 
emigrants from the latter prov- 
ince. The discords in regard to 
its ownership were succeeded at 
the Revolution by other and worse 
discords. The partisans of the 
royal cause were numerous, and 
complained of severe treatment 
WYOMING MONUMENT. from the more numerous advo- 

cates of independence. Many fled to the Indians, whom they 
instigated to plunder the settlements from which they were 
exiled. An assault on the valley was made in 1777. A more 
- furious attack was made the ensuing summer. 
J / Colonel John Butler, one of the refugees, led a 
large body of Indians, and a larger body of Tories 
disguised as Indians, against the dwellers in Wyoming, who 




CONQUEST OF THE NORTH-WEST. 133 

had been lulled into security by treacherous devices. Most of 
the men of military age were absent with the army. The small 
force left behind was induced to leave the principal fort, were 
drawn into an ambush, surrounded, and cut to pieces. The 
savage host pushed on, took Fort Wyoming, and massacred 
the captives. Men, women, and children were brutally mur- 
dered. The few that escaped fled beyond the Delaware and 
the Hudson,, and implored their kindred to avenge them. Ven- 
geance was not delayed. Unadilla, a village occupied by In- 
dians and Tories, was destroyed. Vengeance begets vengeance, 
and the settlement in the Cherry Valley, at the head of the 
Eastern Susquehanna, was surprised and laid waste by a sa\ - 
age attack. 

THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTH-WEST. 

68. The Virginia adventure was the conquest of 
the North-west. The British Government did not only em- 
ploy Indian auxiliaries, but from the beginning of the war had 
incited the Indians to assail the long frontier from the St. 
Lawrence to the Chattahoo'chee. Virginia and Pennsylvania 
were specially endangered. Before Congress took any de- 
cided action, Colonel Clarke * marched against the Indians 
beyond the Ohio. He crossed that river, hastened inland, 
captured Kaskaskia and other places. Vincennes {vm-sens) 
was taken by Hamilton, the British commander in that 
quarter. It was speedily recovered by Clarke, who took Ham- 
ilton prisoner and sent him to Virginia. The North-west was 
claimed as a conquest, and was annexed to Virginia as the 
County of Illinois. 



* General George Rogers Clarke (1752-1818) was born in Virginia. He commanded 
acompany in Dunmore's expedition, 1774. He removed to Kentucky in 1775. Heap., 
plied to Congress and to Virginia for the reimbursement of his expenses in this con- 
quest. His application was not granted. The State of Virginia presented him with 
a sword. He stuck the blade in the ground and broke it, saying : " Tell Virginia to 
pay her debts, and then vote honors to the men who served her." The State after- 
wards gave him thirty thousand acres of land, most of which he distributed among 
the creditors who had furnished the means for his important expedition. 



134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



TRANSFER OF THE WAR TO THE SOUTH. 

69. The war so far had been indecisive. The South- 
ern States liad been abandoned, and had been apparently lost 
to Britain. The city of New York, Newport, and a few other 
places, with the country around them, constituted all that the 
British retained in the Middle and Eastern States. The Amer- 
icans had received the surrender of Burgoync, had regained 
Boston and Philadelphia, but had apparently made little im- 
pression on the British power. Even the alliance with France 
had produced small benefit and much dissatisfaction. Serious 
conflicts took place between the French and the Americans. 
It appeared to the British Government that important advan- 
tages might be expected from shifting the war to the rich 
Southern colonies, which chiefly upheld the financial credit of 
the Confederacy in Europe, and through which the Americans 
received most of their military and other supplies. This move- 
ment would, moreover, turn the flank and threaten the rear 
of the provinces. 

70. Colonel Campbell and thirty-five hundred men 
were conveyed by the fleet to Savannah. General Prevost 
{pre-vo) was ordered to join him from Florida, and to take 
command. Colonel Howe, who had twelve hundred men at 
Savannah, was assailed in front and rear, and completely de- 
feated. The city was entered by the British at the end of De- 
cember. Augusta was captured early in the next year ; and 
Georgia was recovered by the British. 

FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION, 1779. 

71. The operations of the fifth campaign were 
trivial, but not without important effects. Small forces may 
produce as much result as large armies, when opposed only by 
small forces. Courage and sagacity may be as signally dis- 
played vv'ith few men as with thousands. It is, however, true 



FIFTH YEAR OF TJ/F REVOLUTION. 



135 



that the success of the Revolution was largely due to " the 
physical difficulty " of penetrating the vast and unsettled coun- 
try. The British warred against nature, as well as against the 
rights of freemen. They had expended immense resources, 
without adequate return. Their supplies of men, money, and 
materials were at a low ebb, when new and more powerful 
enemies were gathering for the fray. The condition of Eng- 
lish affairs was deemed more perilous than had been known for 
a century. A strong detachment of Clinton's army had been 
sent to the West Indies. His reinforcements from England 
did not reach him till the end of August, when the campaign- 
ing season was nearly over. The British fleets were so re- 
duced that they could 
not furnish convoys for 
the merchantmen, or pre- 
vent the dread of French 
ascendency in the Brit- 
ish Channel. The Amer- 
icans were scarcely bet- 
ter off. They could 
neither expel the British 
from the Northern ports 
nor offer effectual resist- 
ance in the South. The 
currency was wretchedly 
depreciated (see section 
91). The finances were 
almost hopeless. Men were wanting for the armies. Means 
were equally wanting to arm, to maintain, and to pay them. It 
was a time of petty warfare and of irregular operations ; — a 
time noted for the boldness of partisan chiefs and guerrilla 
bands. 

72. Georgia was overrun and occupied by the Brit- 
ish, but they were not left undisturbed. Pickens * attacked a 




GENERAL GREENE. 



• Colonel Andrew Pickens (1739-1317), was born in Pennsylvania, of Irish parents 



J 36 ///srOh'Y OF Till'. U XI TED STATES. 

body of Nortli Carolina Tories ou their way to Augusta, and 
lianged five of them for treason, RetaHation followed. The 
bitterness of the war was further envenomed. General Lin- 
coln,* wlio now commanded in tlie South, obtained possession 
of Augusta, but was obliged to abandon it. 

73. The British commander, Prevost, crossed the Savannah, 
drove Moultrie before him, ami advanced upon Charleston. 
The rivers and swami)s in that realm of swamps were all 
ilooded, and conununications were interrupted. The city was 
summoned to surrender. A proposal was made that the State 
should remain neutral, and have its fate determined by the 
issue of the war. The offer was rejected and the opportunity 
was lost. Defences had been thrown up, defenders arrived, 
and tlie British were obliged to retire. The sum*ner's heat 
l)revented further movements, which v/ere not systematically 
resumed till the winter. 

74. A descent had been made on the Virginia coast, 

while Trevost was })roceeding against Charleston. PiM-tsmouth, 
Gosport, and Norfolk were taken. A hundred and thirty mer- 
chantmen, eight small Virginia war vessels, and nn unfinished 
frigate, were burnt. Three thousand hogsheads of tobacco, 
with other booty, were carried off. The damage inllicted was 
estimated at two millions of dollars. 

75. The commerce and the little navy of the col- 
onies received a heavy blow by this destruction. An active 
trade had been carried on under foreign flags. Privateers had 
been encouraged,! and had made numerous and valuable cap- 



♦ Gcneml Benjamin Lincoln (17 3-1S10) >v.-.s of MassachuscUs. He was seriously 
woinuled at Saratoj^a, and was taken prisoner at the surrender of Cliarleston. 

t The Duke of Riehmond stated in the House of Peers, nth February, 1778, on 
movinjT resohitions for a suspension of arms, that the number of vessels captured 
by the Americans, and condemned as prizes, amounted to Jive hundred and fifty-nine, 
valued at $13.0^x1,0^x1. 

The First Lord of the Admiralty s;\id, .-\bout the s;\me time, that the scarcity of sea- 
men was due to the want of th.e American sailors who served to man the fleets. These 
he estimated at eijjhteen thousand, and, as they were servin{j on the opposite side, the 
practical difference amounted to thirty-six thousand men. 



JOHN PAUJ. JOAl.S. 137 

tures. A public navy had been early decreed by Congress. 
Three years before this time, Hopkins had been sent out with 
five frigates against the Bahamas. Earnest efforts had been 
made to build war vessels. 

THE BON HOMME RICHARD AND THE SERAPIS. 

76. John Paul Jones/' a Scotchman, ac(|uired reputa- 
tion l)y his daring at sea. In the preceding year he had at- 
temi)ted to burn Whitehaven, on the north-western coast of 
England, and had spread panic along the neighboring shores. 
He had then plundered tlie liouse of Lord Selkirk, by whom 
he had been formerly employed as a gardener. In the close 

j^ of the present summer he encountered two liritisli 

' frigates. He lashed his vessel, tlie Bon Homme 
Richard {bon om rce-shar) to his assailant, the Scrapis (si'r- 
dpis)y and endeavored to set it on fire. Hoth ships were at 
times in flames together. After a hotly contested action, the 
Serapis struck her flag. Jones's own vessel was sinking, and 
sank the next day.f He had transferred his crew to the cai)- 
tured ship. The other British frigate surrendered to one of 
Jones's flotilla, and he sailed to tlie Texel'l with his prizes. A 
bitter correspondence ensued between the British ambassador 
and the Dutch Government, and contributed to add Holland 
to'the enemies of I"mgland. 

77. The northern campaign was of little impor- 
tance. An invasion of Canada was projected, but was dis- 
couraged by Washington. Stony Point and Verplanck's Point, 



* John Paul, who assumed the name of Jones (1747-17^2), was appointed to the sea 
in the Vir^jinia trade. He became commander of a slaver. In /773. he settled in 
Virf,Mnia. He was in France, on public business, in 178^5-7. He was made Rear-Admiral 
of the Russian squadron in the Rallic, in 1788 ; but, as si.xty Hritish officers in that 
fleet refused to serve with him, he was employed against the Turks. He died in 
Paris. 

t The officers of the Bon Ifoyuvte Richard were Americans, but the crew were 
mainly En(,dish, Irish, Scotch, Portufruesc, Norwe(,Mans, Germans, Spaniards, Swedes, 
" Indians and Malays," witli a few Sandwich Islanders. 

X The Tcxel is an island of the North Sea, near the coast of Holland. 



138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

on opposite banks of the Hudson, were taken by Clinton in 
order to open the navigation of the river. General Wayne re- 
captured the former by a midnight attack. A few days later, 
Paulus Hook, opposite to New York City, was surprised by 
Major Henry Lee,* a young officer of high promise. Connec- 
ticut was ravaged by Governor Tryon. New Haven and other 
towns were burnt. 

78. General Sullivan was sent with five thousand men 
against the Six Nations, to punish them for the outrages 
in the Wyoming and Cherry valleys. He routed them near 
Elmira in the Genesee Valley, the rich and cultivated domain 
of the Senecas. Eighteen villages were burnt, many more 
were devastated. The crops and the fruit-trees were destroyed, 
and the beautiful region was left desolate. The Indian set- 
tlements along the Alleghany River were ravaged by another 
expedition. 

79. Spain joined the alliance against England during 
the summer.f France had advised the colonies to propose 
terms of peace. This they declined to do, as Canada, Nova 
Scotia, and the Newfoundland fisheries were not embraced 
in the proposals suggested. The war thus went on. Jay was 
appointed as ambassador to Spain, to negotiate for the free 
navigation of the Mississippi, and for a loan of five millions 
of dollars, to replenish the empty Federal treasury. 

THE REPULSE AT SAVANNAH. 

80. The French fleet, under D'Estaing, sailed for 
Georgia, after capturing Grenada, in the West Indies. It was 
intended to make an attack on New York, in concert with 
Washington, as soon as Savannah was reduced. D'Estaing 



* Major-General Henry Lee (i756-i8iS>, usually known as ''Light-Horse Harry," 
was the commander of " Lee's Legion." He delivered the funeral oration over 
Washington. He never recovered from the injuries received in suppressing a riot in 
Baltimore. In x8o8, he wrote " Memoirs of the War" of the Revolution. 

t This alliance furnished the occasion for the celebrated but unsuccessful siege of 
Gibraltar, by the Spaniards and French, 1779-1783. 



SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 139 

invested the town, and Lincoln marched to his support. A 
demand for the surrender of the place was rejected. The 
siege lingered. The time for maritime enterprises was pass- 
ing away. The impetuous Frenchman insisted that 
J^\ the city should be stormed, or the siege raised. 
* The assault was made and repulsed. D'Estaing was 
wounded. Pulaski received a fatal shot.* Sergeant Jasper 
was killed while planting the flag of South Carolina on the 
ramparts. D'Estaing sailed sullenly away. Lincoln went back 
to Charleston. 

81. Clinton prepared to carry out his designs against the 
southern colonies as soon as the menace to New York was re- 
moved with D'Estaing's failure. Washington placed his men 
in winter quarters at West Point, on the right bank of the Hud- 
son, and at Morristown, in New Jersey. The winter was of 
unusual length and severity ; \ and was of itself sufficient to 
prevent any important military operations in the north ; espe- 
cially as both armies v/ere very low in numbers in that quarter. 

SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION, 1780. 

82. Clinton sailed from New York for Charleston 

in the last days of December. He took with him five thou- 
sand soldiers, two thousand marines, and a fleet. He invested 
the city and demanded its surrender. The demand was re- 
jected and the place was bombarded. The demand was re- 
peated and again refused. The city was again cannonaded 
for two days. It then capitulated. A promiscuous body of 
-_ troops, five or six thousand in number, four hun- 
dred pieces of artillery, four frigates, and other 
prizes, fell into the hands of the British. Scarcely any hostile 

* There is a monument to Pulaski in Savannah. 

t " A winter unequalled in that climate for its length and severity. * * * The 
North River, with the straits and channels by which they are divided and surrounded, 
were everywhere clothed with ice of such strength and thickness, as would have ad- 
mitted the passage of armies, with their heaviest carriages and artillery."— /I ««art/ 
Register ^\-]Za, 



I40 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

force was left in the province, the provincial cavalry having 
been routed a month earlier at Monk's Corner. 

83. Clinton called for a loyal militia, to hold and se- 
cure his conquest. He promised amnesty to all who renewed 
their allegiance. He denounced confiscation and other pen- 
alties against those who failed to accept his offer. Troops 
were dispatched in various directions without meeting an ene- 
my. Colonel Buford's regiment of the Virginia line alone re- 
mained with its colors. It turned back when Charleston fell. 
Colonel Tarleton * pursued it with furious haste, overtook it 
at the Waxhaws,t cut it to pieces, slew one hundred and thir- 
teen of the force, took two hundred, and had only five of his 
own men killed and twelve wounded. By the end of May, 
South Carolina seemed to be effectually subdued. Clinton 
so informed the Home Administration. He returned exult- 
ingly to New York, leaving Cornwallis with four thousand men 
to retain and extend the conquest. 

THE BATTLE OF CAMDEN. 

84. The speech from the throne mentioned " the late 
and prosperous turn of affairs." The fruits of war often wither in 
the hands that gather them. Armed men sprang up suddenly 
from the soil, and found bold and earnest chiefs to direct them. 
DeKalb had been ordered with the Maryland and Delaware 
troops to the relief of Charleston. He was superseded by 
Gates, who reached Camden with little molestation. Gates 
had four thousand men, but his effective force was reduced by 
details and by sickness, caused by living during the march on 
green corn and unripe peaches. Cornwallis had barely half 
this number, but he had been joined by Lord Rawdon,! and 



♦ Sir Banastre Tarleton (175 {-18331, a man of savage temper, served only in Amer- 
ica, and closed his military career at Yorktown. 

t The Waxhaws was a settlement on Waxhaw Creek, close to the North Carolina 
line. 

X Francis Rawdon Hastms^s (i754-i825\ son of Earl Moira, was successively Lord 
Rawdon, Earl Moira, and Marquis of Hastmgs. He was Governor-General of India, 
1812-1822. 



THE GUERRILLA CHIEFS. 



141 



1780. 

16 Aug. 



concluded that " there was little to lose by a defeat and much 
to gain by a victory." Each commander planned a surprise in 
the darkness. About midnight the two armies 
blundered into each other. The battle opened 
at dawn. Most of the American militia ran at the 
first charge. DeKalb was slain, and the regulars were driven 
from the field. Two thousand of the van(iuished were lost. 
Their artillery and baggage were abandoned. Gates escaped 
with a few companies to Charlotte, and thence hastened to 
Salisbury {solzber-c) and Hillsboro. 

THE GUERRILLA CHIEFS. 

85. General Sumter,* a gallant leader of a partisan force, 
withdrew by rapid 
marches from an ex- 
posed position, on 
the flight of Gates. 
Tarleton pursued, 
scattered his eight 
hundred men by at- 
tacking them in the 
rear with one hun- 
dred and sixty. Gates 
was thus deprived of 
all hopes of rallying 
his forces. He had 
been followed by the 
remnant of the army 
defeated at Camden. 
He was brought to 
trial before a Court of Inquiry, and General Nathaniel Greene 
was named by Washington as his successor in command. The 
war was maintained in vSouth Carolina only by Sumter, Marion, 
and other partisan chiefs. 




GENERAL SUMTER. 



♦ Thomas Sumter (1734-1832) was of Irish origin, and born cither in Ireland, or in 
Albemarle County, Virginia, whence the family emigrated to South Carolina. 



142 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



86. Francis Mar'ion"' was a small, spare, silent, simple, hard- 
favored man ; active, acute, and watchful. The swampy and 
sickly region between the Pedee and Santee rivers was the scene 
of his irritating warfare. From unsuspected hiding-places 

he darted upon weak 
posts or inviting con- 
voys. General Sum- 
ter, who rendered al- 
most equal service, was 
two years younger, 
larger, handsomer, and 
less cunning. Gen- 
eral Andrew Pickens 
harassed the British 
stations and the loy- 
alists round Augusta. 
These guerrilla chief- 
tains were active 
along the border be- 
tween the Carolinas. 
From such irregular warfare the Prussian Bulow conceived his 
ideal of an army of skirmishers. 




FRANCIS MARION. 



THE BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN. 

87. The conquest of North Carolina was expected 

to follow the recovery of South Carolina. Cornwallis advanced, 
spreading his troops abroad to repress patriotic movements, 



♦Francis Marion (1732-1795^ "The Swamp Fox," as he was called, was almost 
uneducated. In 1759 he served against the Cherokees. He was in the battle on 
Sullivan's Island. He organized his partisan brigade after the battle of Camden. 

When he first presented himself in the camp of General Gates, on the march to Cam- 
den, he and his motley followers presented a most uncouth and ludicrous appearance, 
and excited the laughter of the troops. His company consisted of twenty men and 
boys, white and black, with defective and grotesque equipments, wretchedly clothed, 
with small skin caps on the'r beads, but all of them mounted on horses ae various, 
and, for the most part, as shabby as themselves. 



FRENCH REINFORCEMENTS. 1 43 

and to quicken Tory zeal. On the left wing of his army, Colo- 
nel Ferguson, an officer of great energy and courage, assembled 
the Tories from the western and central districts of both prov- 
inces. He retired before Colonels Shelby,* Campbell, f and 
Sevier {se-veer^^ X who were leading against him the musters 
from the Holston, Clinch, and New River valleys. He was 
assailed at King's Mountain, § a strong position on the edge 
g of the two Carolinas. Three assaults were repulsed 
*7 n f ^^^^^ ^^^ bayonet ; but one hundred and fifty of 
his best and bravest men fell by the rifles of the 
mountaineers. Ferguson was slain. The survivors, eight hun- 
dred in number, surrendered. Many of the captives were 
hanged. The left flank of Cornwallis was exposed by this 
event. He marched back to Winnsborough, in South Caro- 
lina. This was a heavy reverse. The partisan corps were 
cheered. Hope was revived throughout the land. Time was 
afforded for Greene to gather and reorganize his command. 

REINFORCEMENTS FROM FRANCE. 

88. The northern armies were greatly reduced in 

numbers, and were almost idle during the season. Events of 
grave interest transpired. Lafayette returned home to accept 
a commission as Major-General in the army destined for the 
invasion of Britain, and to solicit increased assistance for the 
Americans. Count Rochambeau {rosh-a?ft-l?o) brought to 



* General Isaac Shelby (1750-1826) was originally from Maryland. He was with his 
father at the battle of Point Pleasant. He was the first governor of Kentucky, in 
1802, and governor again in 1812. 

t General William Campbell (1746-1781) was an officer of distinction, and of still 
greater promise. He died young. He was mortally wounded in leading a charge at 
the battle of Eutaw Springs. 

% General John Sevier (1740-18 15) was of French descent. The original family name 
was Xavier. He was in the battle of Point Pleasant. He was elected governor of 
the transitory " State of Frankland," and was the first governor of Tennessee. 

§ King's Mountain received its name from a settler of the name of King, who dwelt 
at its foot. The range is a low elevation, running from north-east to south-west, 
partly in North Carolina, and partly in South Carolina. The ridge is sixteen miles 
long. The place where the battle was fought is in the north of York District, South 
Carolina, about a mile and a half south of the North Carolina line. The summit at 
that place is only sixty feet above the level of the country. 



144 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Newport harbor six thousand troops, and seven ships of the 
Hne, with frigates and transports. Six British men-of-war pre- 
pared to pursue them. On these CHnton embarked six thou- 
sand soldiers to assail 
the French at New- 
port. The troops 
were soon disem- 
barked, from appre- 
hension of an attack 
on New York by 
Washington. The 
fleet proceeded on its 
way, and blockaded 
the French vessels at 
their moorings. The 
second division of the 
French fleet Avas 
blockaded in the har- 
bor of Brest. Little 
advantage had yet been derived from the French alliance. 
There was hazard that no American army could be raised for 
the next year. Washington, therefore, visited Rochambeau 
at Newport, to devise a plan for future operations. 




GENERAL MORGAN. 



ARNOLD'S TREASON. 

89. Washington's absence was used for the execution 
of a treacherous design. General Arnold commanded the 
fort at West Point, which guarded the upper Hudson. He 
had won admiration and renown by his daring, and popular 
favor by his services and wounds. His character did not in- 
spire confidence. He was a disappointed man ; he was ex- 
travagant ; he was greedy, and distrustful of the event of the 
struggle. He had already been in correspondence with Clin- 
ton. He had sought and obtained from Washington the 
command of West Point in order to betray it 



ARNOLD'S TREASON. 



MS 



Major Andr(^ * {an'drd)^ an amiable young officer of varied 
accomplishments, was persuaded to meet Arnold for the pur- 
pose of completing the arrangements for the betrayal of the 
fort. He was conveyed up the Hudson to the neighborhood 
of the American lines. He was induced by Arnold to enter 
the lines ; and he imprudently delayed his return. The next 
night he could not reach the British sloop which was watching 
in the stream. He was forced to go back to New York by 
land, and in disguise. He had, apparently, passed all danger, 
when he was seized near Tarrytown, a place between the 
lines. Important papers, in regard to the delivery of the fort, 
were found in his stockings. He was detained. He was tried 
by court-martial, and was sentenced to be hanged as a spy. 
Clinton made every effort to save him. Every effort was vain, 

as he would not deliver up Arnold in exchange. f 
-. ' The sentence was confirmed. Andre was hanged, 

despite his -entreaties to be shot as a soldier. Ar- 
nold heard of Andrew's capture in time to make his escape. 
He entered the British service, lived in contempt, and died 
near London. His sons drew British pensions as late as 
1838. 

GREAT BRITAIN AND HER ENEMIES IN EUROPE. 

90. Holland united her armies with the allied States 
at the close of the year. This intervention in the war proved 
to be Holland's ruin, but was of slight advantage to the con- 
federated colonies. The entrance of Spain into the conflict 
caused grievous losses to that country, and augmented Eng- 



♦ John Andrd (1757-1780) was of a Swiss family from Geneva. He was handsome, 
elegant, and abounding,' in wit and humor. The composition of " Yankee Doodle" 
has been ascribed to him. A monument in his honor was erected in Westminster 
Abbey by George III. The inscription declared him " universally beloved and es- 
teemed in the army in which he served, and lamented even by his foes." His remains 
were removed to the abbey in 1821. 

t It was between the capture and execution of Andrd that Sergeant Champe, of 
Virginia, deserted, with the permission of Washington, and made a desperate attempt 
to kidnap Arnold in the city of New York. This daring adventure furnishes the 
foundation of Cooper's novel, "The Spy." 

7 



146 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

land's burdens, without producing any improvement in 
American affairs. The British and American armies were idle 
in the north. In the south, Georgia and South Carolina had 
been regained by the forces of Britain. Virginia might prob- 
ably be recovered in another campaign. With the richer half 
of the Union shorn away, speedy and complete triumph might 
be anticipated. But Britain was at war with the world. She 
had to contend with France, Spain, and Holland, as well as 
with her own colonies. The northern powers assumed a hos- 
tile attitude towards her, by the Armed Neutrality,* which 
Catharine of Russia was tricked into signing, after having 
offered her aid for the subjugation of the American insur- 
gents. The long and desperate siege of Gibraltar by the 
Spaniards and the French taxed the energies and consumed 
the resources of Britain. Her commerce was declining ; her 
taxation becoming more burdensome ; her crops had failed, 
and her financial condition was rendered alarming by the 
enormous growth of the national debt. The spirit of the 
people was profoundly depressed. The Americans had time, 
nature, extent of waste territory, and the chances of the 
^"""""""^w"''''' /^ — ^WiX future on their side. Their 

'^^^^'@% AffM^K g'-'^''''^^' difficulty and their 




l^^^]j|'^i|\^i'//?S^^|^y lessness of their currency, and 
-i^Ssoooon^i^^/ \^^'°°"°°S'\^/ ill the uncertainty of the State 
^^illC^^"^ V^;AV]^ contributions to the expenses 

PINE-TREE SHILLING .f of the War. 

THE PAPER MONEY OF THE REVOLUTION. 

91. The Revolutionary War furnished neither the 
first nor the last example of an attempt to sustain a gov- 



* The Armed Neutrality was a coalition of the Nortliern States of Europe, in 1780, 
to resist any naval aggression on neutral rights. It was directed against Britain. 

t No coins were struck by the General Government till after the Revolutionary 
War. The only metallic money previously made was the small coinage of Massa- 
chusetts, coined from 1652 to i686, of which the " Pine-tree Shilling " was a part. 



PAPER MONEY OE THE REVOLUTION'. 



147 



ment, and to maintain armies, by paper promises to pay speci- 
fied sums, as soon as the uncertain issue of war might prove 
favorable. Such notes have always declined in value. The 



S£ 



si'^sis 



No 45^-7^ 




TiiiSBrathtuicrtKj 
^^„ BwaccT- Co -reeCivii 
SIX SPANISH MILLED 
DOLLa-R^. o-r tVi« 
Value tf(<reo/ loCrOLn 
OrS"lLVERdtrordinf to 
aR'CtfoivAUon of .con:- 

ORESS pMMat Phi 



SIX DOLLAPS 






%CMjlCrhy 




m^'Msim^m 



CONTINENTAL PAPER MONEY. 



United States began by issuing two millions of paper dollars 
in the summer of 1775. By the end of 1779 they had issued 
two hundred millions. The value of the notes was well kept 
up till twenty millions had been issued. When two hundred 
millions were abroad, thirty dollars of Continental currency 
were worth only one silver dollar. The old notes were called 
in, to be exchanged for notes of a new tenor, at the rate 
of forty of the old for one of the new.* The notes of the old 
and of the new tenor fell together. In 1781, one hundred dol- 
lars in paper were given for one dollar in specie ; then, five 
hundred ; finally, a thousand, f Both old and new vanished 
from circulation. The stoppage of hostilities by the surrender 



* The procedure and experience of revolutionary currency was exactly paralleled 
by those of the French Revolution and of the Southern Confederacy. 

t A tavern dinner cost $500 ; a pair of boots, S'-oo ; the shoeing of a horse, $700, and 
a sorry cow was purchased with a sulky-box crammed with Continental paper. 



148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of Cornwallis, the ])roniise of peace, and a return to a specie 
basis, slowly restored the finances of the country. 



SEVENTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION, 1781. 

92. The last year of actual war opened with deep- 
ening gloom. Officers were unpaid, and threw up their com- 
missions. Veterans went home, and left their places to be 
ineffectually filled by recruits and raw levies. The soldiers 
refused the Continental currency, thougli unfed, unclothed, 
and unpaid. They had been without adecpiate supi)lies for 
months, and were aggrieved. The Pennsylvania regiments 
revolted in their winter quarters. Two Connecticut regiments 
did the same thing. A mutiny of the New Jersey troops was 
sujipressed by Washington. It was impossible to keep up the 
numbers of the dissolving army. " The Articles of Confeder- 
ation " were, however, at length accepted by Maryland, and 
the country had a Constitution and a prescribed form of gov- 
ernment. Some improvement of the finances might also be 
hoped for, after Robert Morris * had been appointed to super- 
intend them, and to restore transactions to a specie basis. A 
National Bank was also projected. Immediate wants were 
supplied by Morris, by an advance from the French military 
chest, and by a small Dutch loan. 

93. The important operations of 1781 were confined 
to the Southern country. They were decisive. Three 
thousand British troops had been sent, the last autumn, to 
Norfolk, in Virginia, but had been ordered round to Charles- 
ton. In the first days of the new year, Arnold, now a British 
Major-General, sailed up James River with a small force, to 
aid the projected movements of Cornwallis. Richmond was 
occupied witliout a battle, and plundered. Mr. Jefferson, then 

* Robert Morris (i733-i8o6;> was born in England, but was brought to America in 
childhood, and was educated in Philadelphia. He acquired a vast fortune by mercan- 
tile pursuits, but died comparatively poor. lie often raised on his own personal 
credit the means that Washington, or Congress, urgently needed. 



CORN W ALUS THREATENS NOKTJf CAROLINA. 14^ 

governor, and most of the richer citizens, had promptly fled. 
Ihe invaders fell back to Portsmouth, General Phillips came 
with additional troops and assumed the command. After a 
skirmish with Steuben and the rnilitia, he occupied Petersburg, 
and destroyed much tobacco and other property. He moved 
on Richmond, but Lafayette had arrived with a body of reg* 
ulars. He turned aside, devastated plantations, and died. 
Arnold resumed the command in Virginia, and waited for 
Cornwallis to arrive. 

CORNWALLIS THREATENS NORTH CAROI^INA. 

94. Cornwallis had spent the winter in preparing for 
a renewed attempt to subjugate North Carolina. General 
Greene, after reorganizing the American forces, resolved to 
anticipate this attempt. He advanced to Cheraw, where he 
posted his main body, and stationed Morgan, with a thousand 
men, at the confluence of the Pacolet {pak-o-let') with the 
Broad River. Tarleton hastened to dislodge this body. 
Morgan withdrew to more favorable ground, at a place called 
The Cowpens.* The attack was boldly made and boldly 
repelled. Colonel Washington engaged Tarleton, hand to 
hand, and wounded him severely. f 

THE CHASE OF MORGAN. 

95. Morgan hurried towards Virginia with his prison- 
ers. Cornwallis pursued. Morgan crossed the Catawba one 
morning. A heavy rain prevented Cornwallis from crossing 
in the evening. The British were similarly checked at the 



* The name of The Cowpcns was ji^ivcn to the scene of Morj^an's exploit, bccaufic 
it was not distant from well known inclosurcs, where the cattle, which had {(razed 
through the summer on the abundant pastures of Thicketty Mountain, were collected 
by their owners in the fall of the year, to be sorted for slaughtering as beef, or for 
keeping through the winter. 

t William Augustine Washington (1752-1810) was of Virginia, and a relative of 
General Washington. He settled in South Carolina at the close of the Revolution. 
Tarleton having spoken with contempt of Washington's inability to write, a lady re- 
plied that "he knew how to make his mark." 



15° 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Yadkin. Greene spurred one hundred and fifty miles across 
the country, and joined Morgan before he had reached the 
Yadkin. He ordered his main force at Cheraw to hasten to 
Guilford Court-House. Here he joined it with Morgan's 
command. The retreat was continued beyond the Dan River. 
For the third time in this long race the Americans escaped, 
Cornwallis reaching the stream as Greene's rear-guard passed 
over. North Carolina seemed to be secured by the British. 

BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE. 

96. Greene fell behind the Dan to gather from Virginia 
reinforcements, which made his army twice, perhaps more 
than twice, as large as that of his opponent. The hostile forces 

met at Guilford Court-House. The North 

T*7XT 

J- ' , Carolina militia in the first line fled ; the Virgin- 
15 March. . 1 , 1 , ., ^r 1 j t 

lans were pushed back ; the Maryland hne gave 

way. The rout was arrested by the other troops, and by Col- 
onel Washington's horse. Greene withdrew. The doubtful 
victory did not benefit Cornwallis. His army was broken ; 
his men were starving. He retired to Wilmington, and was 
harassed on his retreat by Colonel Harry Lee. 

HOBKIRK'S HILL. 

97. A bold dash for the recovery of South Carolina 
was made by Greene, as Lord Cornwallis was no longer in his 
front. He planted himself at Hobkirk's Hill, near Camden. 

„ Lord Rawdon, who had been left in charge of the 

L '.. Southern province, hoped to surprise him by a 
^ ^ * flank attack, but was foiled at first. The Ameri- 
can centre was, however, crushed in, and Greene ordered a re- 
treat. Rawdon was imperilled by the successes of Marion and 
Lee in his rear, and by the resumption of arms throughout the 
districts behind him. He returned to Charleston, and the 
country beyond the Santee was lost to him. 



BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 



\^i 



THE EXECUTION OF COLONEL HAVNE. 

98. The passions of Whigs and Tories rendered the waf 
peculiarly vio- 
lent and bit- 
ter in the Car- 
olinas. Atroc- 
i t i c s were 
committed on 
both sides. 
Colonel Isaac 
H a y n e,* a 
gentleman of 
high charac- 
ter and posi- 
tion, was cap- 
tured, accused ^ 
of violating 
h i s pledges, 
and hanged 
without a legal 
trial. Greene 
threatened re- 
taliation, but 
active hostilities were closed before the threat was executed. 

THE BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 

99. Carolina did not remain much longer under 
British control. An indecisive action took place at Eutaw 

Springs \ near the Santee River, between General 
Greene and Colonel Stewart, the successor of 
Rawdon. The forces were nearly equal, and the 
battle was hotly contested. Both sides claimed the victory ; 




COLONEL HENRY LEE. 



I78I. 

8 Sept. 



* Isaac Hayne (1745-1781) was a wealthy planter. He accepted British protection, 
and took the oath of allegiance. Summoned to take arms on the British side, he re- 
fused, and joined the patriot bands. He was captured and put to death. 

t Eutaw Springs is the name given to a small stream, about two miles in length, 



52 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



but Stewart was shut up within the narrow strip of land be- 
tween the Ashley and Cooper rivers, and the war in this 
region was virtually ended. 



THE FAILURE OF CORNWALLIS. 

100. Cornwallis marched on Virginia when Greene 
proceeded southwards. He joined Arnold at Petersburg. 

He sent Simcoe and 
Tarleton t o seize 
Governor Jefferson, 
break up the Vir- 
ginia Assembly at 
Charlottesville, and 
destroy the public 
works on the Rivan- 
na. From his resi- 
dence on the summit 
of Monticello, which 
commanded a wide 
view of the sur- 
rounding country, 
Jefferson saw Tarle- 
ton's dragoons cross- 
ing the river below, 
CORNWALLIS. aud escaped. The 

Assembly adjourned to Staunton, beyond the Blue Ridge. 
Cornwallis drew down toward the seaboard, as the Americans 
gathered round him, and intrenched himself at Yorktown, 
where he had access to the sea, and awaited anxiously rein- 
forcements from Clinton, and a British fleet. 
loi. The French fleet was also expected on the Amer- 




which empties into the river Santee, near the north-western corner of Charleston 
district. It bursts out at the foot of a low hill, cold, clear, and sparkling, and in 
sufficient volume to turn a mill. After running fifty or sixty yards, it plunges mto 
a cavern, and flows underground for about thirty rods, then reappears, and runs into 
the Santee. 



THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. 1^3 

ican coasts. An attack on New York was contemplated. It 
was abandoned, as the French admiral sailed for Chesapeake 
Bay. Washington, in consequence, determined to invest Corn- 
wallis by land and by sea. Concealing his purpose and con- 
tinuing his menaces against New York, he gathered the French 
and American forces at the head of the Chesapeake, and trans- 
ported the greater part of them in French and other vessels to 
the neighborhood of Williamsburg. 

102. De Grasse* arrived in the Chesapeake with 
twenty-eight French men-of-war, and reinforced Lafayette with 
three thousand French troops under the Marquis de St. Si- 
mon [see-mong). A partial naval engagement enabled the 
French fleet from Newport to enter the bay in safety. After 
manoeuvring for five days, the British admirals sailed away to 
New York to repair damages, and left Cornwallis to his fate. 
The outlet by sea was closed to him. 

THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. 

103. He was shut up on the land side also. He had 

about eight thousand men. He was closely invested by Wash- 
ington and Rochambeau with sixteen thousand, exclusive of 
militia. Half of this investing force was French. The out- 
works were carried by a vigorous assault, in which French and 
Americans emulated each other. f Neither the promised aid 
from Clinton, nor the British fleet, came to the relief of Corn- 
wallis. He made a desperate attempt to cross the York River, 
with the hope of cutting his way through to Clinton. A furious 
storm frustrated the bold experiment. He surrendered his 



♦Francis Joseph Paul, Count De Grasse (1723-1788). His flagship, the Ville de 
Paris^ mounted one hundred and sixteen guns, and was the largest vessel afloat. He 
was utterly defeated next year, in the West Indies, by Admiral Rodney. He and his 
huge ship were captured . He was disgraced. The Ville de Paris foundered at sea. 

t Alexander Hamilton led the American attack ; Lafayette, the French. 

Governor Nelson, who commanded the Virginia militia, five thousand in number, 
turned the batteries on his own house, the best in the place, supposing it to be occu- 
pied by Cornwallis. 

7* 



154 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



whole army, and with it surrendered the last chance of recover- 
ing the insurgent colonies. The surrender took 

'_ ' place on the loth of October, 1781. Cornwallis gave 
10 Oct. \ , ^ c \ • • 

^ sickness as an excuse for not appearing m person. 

General Washington, with fine feeling, deputed General Lin- 
coln, who had capitulated at Charleston, to receive the sword 
of General O'Hara, who acted for the British commander. 

104. Clinton sailed from Nev/ York, on the day of the 
surrender, with seven thousand men and twenty-five ships of 
the line.* He was too late — and returned. 

105. The war was over, though hostilities on a very 
small scale were still languidly continued. The stubbornness 
of George III., and the widespread contention with France, 
Spain, and Holland, prevented the prompt restoration of peace. 
It was at once recognized that independence must be conceded 
to the colonies in arms. Lord North's administration was ter- 
minated after twelve disastrous years. Provisional articles of 

_ peace between England and the United Colonies 
^ * were signed at Paris. These were confirmed the 
* next year, 1783, by the general Peace of Paris, f 

106. England had lost one hundred thousand men, and had 
increased her national debt $300,000,000, in the attempt to 
subdue her offended colonies. France had wasted much treas- 
ure, and hastened her own fearful revolution. Spain had dis- 
played her utter impotence. Holland had ruined herself by 
her brief intrusion into the conflict. The United States were 



* William IV., of England, then a midshipman, was with this fleet. 

t The provisional articles were signed at Paris, 30th Nov., 1782 ; the preliminaries 
of peace at Versailles, 20th Jan., 1783 ; the definitive treaty at Paris, 3d Sept., 17S3. 

When Dr. Franklin proceeded to court to affix his signature, he dressed himself in 
the suit which he had worn when Wedderburn had so coarsely vituperated him in 
the Council Chamber, in London, 29th Jan., 1744. 

The first man to welcome John Adams, the first U. S. ambassador to London, was 
General Oglethorpe, who had founded Georgia half a century before. 

When Mr. Adams was presented as ambassador to George IIL, 1st June, 1785, the 
king said : " I was the last man in the kingdom to consent to the independence of 
America ; but now that it is granted, I shall be the last man in the world to sanction 
a vio/ation of it." 



WASHINGTON SURRENDERS HIS COMMISSION, 



155 



exhausted. They owed $5,000,000 to France, and $2,000,000 
to Holland. They had a boundless country, a rich soil, energy, 
and confident hope — and they had won their independence. 

WASHINGTON SURRENDERS HIS COMMISSION. 

107. The cessation of hostilities was proclaimed on 




MOUNT VERNON. 

the anniversary of the battle of Lexington. Washington bid 
farewell to the officers of the revolutionary army, and gave 
^ back his commission as Commander-in-chief to the 
/ •^* r^r^-^nryt^c-c r^c-c-c.r-n\<\o.A nf A r> n n r»r»l 1 c. I-Ie returned 



Congress assembled at Annapolis, 
to his home at Mount Vernon, on the banks of 
the broad Potomac, to attend to his ample plantations 



23 Dec. 



156 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and domestic interests, and to watch anxiously the progress of 
the States which his prudence and fortitude had made free. 
His private affairs required close attention, for he had declined 
all pay in his high and arduous office, and had accepted 
nothing beyond his actual expenses. 

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 

108. The two years following the surrender of Yorktown 
had brought perils more alarming than the hazards of the bat- 
tle-field. The public debt reached seventy millions of dollars, 
and there were no visible means of paying it. Eighty-four 
millions, at least, of Continental currency were worthless in the 
hands of the holders. The armies, still kept on foot, were 
destitute, and Congress was unable to satisfy their just de- 
mands. They proposed to assert their claims by arms. The 
troops at Newburgh offered the crown to Washington. It was 
quietly but firmly put aside. New disturbances were repressed 
by his care and resolution. Peace and independence were 
won ; but much was required before prosperity could be re- 
gained. The National Bank, lately established, afforded the 
prospect of some relief to the public finances, and to the mis- 
erable financial condition of the country.* 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES.— 1783-1789. 

109. Everything had been thrown into confusion by 
the war. Private and public fortunes seemed wrecked alike. 
The ties which feebly held together the confederated States 
snapped as soon as danger was removed. Each community 



* The National Bank was projected by Robert Morris, in May, 1781. It did not go 
into operation till 7th Jan., 1782. Its constitutionality was questioned from the first. 







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THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 157 

sought its own interest, careless of joint duties, joint obliga- 
tions, and the joint welfare. France was sullen and jealous. 
England expected that the difficulties and necessities of the 
enfranchised confederation would compel it to renew the old 
allegiance. There was no central power. Congress was only 
a provisional arrangement. The " Articles of Confederation 
and Perpetual Union " were impotent. There were no means 
of regulating foreign or domestic trade, of forming engage- 
ments with other governments, of enforcing general laws, of 
collecting taxes, imposts, or contributions, or of procuring a 
Federal revenue. 

THE SHAVS REBELLION. 

110. A rebellion broke out in Massachusetts, in 

consequence of the heavy taxes levied to pay off the debts of 
the State. Two thousand men, under Daniel Shays, a cap- 
tain in the late war, took up arms and seized Worcester 
and other towns. They were promptly put down in a short 
winter campaign. This insurrection revealed the general an- 
archy and the general insecurity, and showed the need of a 
more settled organization for the whole country 

THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 

111. Washington suggested, and the Virginia Assem- 
bly recommended, a convention to devise a plan of regulating 

-, commerce. A few delegates met at Annapolis. 
^ * Only five States were represented. The meeting 
* separated in consequence, recommending another 
convention with larger scope and ampler powers. The second 
convention met in Philadelphia, under the sanction of Con- 
j. gress. After four months of anxious labors, the 
Mav ^^"^^^^^^^^^^ o^ ^^ United States, nearly as it ex- 
isted till 1 86 1, was framed, and was directed to be 
submitted to a convention in each State for adoption. 

112. The Constitution was an assemblage of com- 



158 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

promises, unsatisfactory in divers particulars to the men who 
devised it, and containing many germs of future discords. It 
was anxiously discussed in the State Conventions. It was 
earnestly advocated by Hamilton,* Madison, and Jay, in a 
series of able essays, which were collected under the name of 
The Federalist. It was strenuously opposed in Virginia by 
Patrick Henry and George Mason ; and in New York, by the 
President of its Convention, George Clinton, then Governor 
\)f the State. t Nine States were required for its ratification. 
This number was completed by the assent of New Hampshire. 
Virginia and New York followed ; North Carolina ratified it 
conditionally a fortnight later ; Rhode Island delayed her ac- 
tion for two years longer. 

113. George Washington was chosen President by 
the unanimous choice of the electors. John Adams was elected 
Vice-President. The old Continental Congress was dissolved. 
The first Congress under the new Constitution met at New 
York, on the 4th of March, 1789. 

THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. 

114. The royal charters to the English colonies fre- 
quently extended their lines from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Virginia claimed the fertile region between the Ohio, the Mis- 
sissippi, and the lakes as her own conquest. Conflicting inter- 
ests and prospective dangers were thus presented. To pre- 
serve trancjuillity and to promote the settlement of these wide 
lands, it was deemed expedient to transfer them to the general 
Government. The cessions were made. Virginia gave up her 



* Alexander Hamilton (1757-180O was highly disting-uishcd from the opening of the 
Revolution. He was born in the British West Indies, and was sent to New York af 
an early age for his education. In 1777 he became aid to Washington. In 1789, he 
was the first Secretary of the Treasury. He was killed by Aaron Burr, in a duel, at 
Wcehawken. 

t " The great dread ♦ * * seems to have been that the reserved powers of the 
Stales would be absorbed by those of the Federal Government, and a consolidated 
power established. ^^— President Harrison's Imiugural^ 1841. 



THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. j^^^ 

conquest. An ordinance was drawn up, l)y Dane of Mas- 
sachusetts, for the regulation (^f tlie territory north-west of the 
Ohio. The sixtli of its provisions enacted that *' there shall 
be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said terri- 
tory, otherwise than in punishment of crimes whereof the party 
shall be duly convicted." 

115. A stream of immigrants, yearly increasing in num- 
bers, had been flowing to the lands of this new territory, lie- 
fore the Peace of Paris, an organized settlement of the inviting 
region had been contemplated by the soldiers of the Revolu- 

_ tion. The pioneers on the Tennessee organized them- 
selves into a State, by the name of Frankland. The 
south-western districts of Virginia disjjlayed some inclination to 
unite with the new State. To counteract such designs the 
Virginia Legislature gave its consent to the creation of the 
State of Kentucky. 

116. Vermont and Kentucky, when they applied for ad- 
mission into the Union as new States, were recpiired to wait for 
the action of the Congress assembled under the new Constitu- 
tion.* The Mississippi was made the western boundary of the 
United States by the treaty with Great Britain. Its lower 
course was within the Spanish domain, which thus commanded 
the outlet from all its confluent waters. The free navigation 
of the river was the object of much negotiation, and of much 
debate. The question was not settled till the purchase of 
Louisiana. 

THE DEATH OF FRANKLIN. 

117. Benjamin Franklin died little more than a year 
after the institution of the new Government. His practical 
philosophy may be hard and selfish, but he had been one of 
the most prominent figures of the Revolution throughout its 
whole course. No other civilian had done as much as he to 



* Vermont became a State in 1791, and Kentucky in 1792. 



:6o 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



guide, to aid, and to accomplish it. He was a poor boy, and 
started in life as a very humble printer. He had risen by in- 
dustry, energy, frugality, and sagacity. He had made the first 
important discovery in electricity. He had instructed the 
people in economy and self-reliance. He had offered the first 
efficient plan for the union of the colonies. He had been the 
agent in England ot four of them at once. He had assisted in 




FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT. 

drawing up the Declaration of Independence. He had con- 
cluded with France the Treaty of Alliance which saved the 
colonies ; and that with Great Britain which assured their in- 
dependence. He had associated and contended with the most 
eminent statesmen. He had " stood before princes." He had 
been the admiration of courts, yet he had always retained a 
republican simplicity of thought, manners, and action. 



SUMMARY FOR REVIEW. l6j 

SUMMARY OF TOPICS.— PART III. 
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. 

Coming Revolution, i. Consequence of expulsion of France. 2. 
Fears of British statesmen ; expectations of French. 3. Grievances of 
the colonies ; taxing America. 4. ** Writs of Assistance." 5. Patrick 
Henry and "The Parsons' Case." 6. "The Sugar Act " opposed. 7. 
" The Stamp Act." 8. Colonial Convention — Petition and memorials; 
repeal of the Stamp Act. g. Sundry duties imposed ; Virginia ; Massa- 
chusetts. 10. " The Boston Massacre." ii. Tea duty retained ; Massa- 
chusetts under military government. 12. " The Regulators." 13. Daniel 
Boone. 14. The Princess Susanna. 15. " The Boston Tea Party." 16. 
The Boston Port Bill. 17. The Continental Congress. 18. Its proceed- 
ings. 19. General Gage at Boston. 20. Battle of Point Pleasant. 21. 
Population. 

The Revolution : First Year. 22. Spirit of the British Ministry and 
of the colonies ; Patrick Henry. 23. Lexington. 24. Capture of forts 
and arms. 25. Continental Congress ; union of the colonies ; prepara- 
tion for war ; Washington. 26. Bunker Hill. 27. Army before Boston. 
28. Invasion of Canada. 29,30. Attack on Quebec. 31. Lord Dunmore. 
32. North and South Carolina. 

Second Year of the Revolution. 33. Situation at Boston. 34. Bos- 
ton regained. 35. British plan for the campaign. 36, 37. Fort Moultrie. 
38. Sergeant Jasper. 39. Declaration of Independence. 40. Peace Com- 
mission. 41. Battle of Long Island. 42. Capture of New York ; White 
Plains. 43. Retreat through the Jerseys ; Congress leaves Philadelphia. 
44. Passage of the Delaware ; Trenton. 45. The army and the finances. 
46. Arnold on Lake Champlain. 

Third Year of the Revolution. 47. Aspect of affairs. 48. Battle 
of Princeton. 50. The United States flag. 51. Lafayette's arrival ; 
DeKalb. 52. Pulaski, Kosciusko, Steuben. 53. Burgoyne's Invasion ; 
Jenny Macrae. 54. Bennington ; Oriskany. 55. Saratoga — Surrender of 
Burgoyne. 56. The battle of the Brandywine. 57. Germantown. 58. Val- 
ley Forge — the army. 59. Measures of Congress ; Articles of Confeder- 
ation ; the Currency ; State contributions. 

Fourth Year of the Revolution. 60. Treaty with France ; resolve 
to be independent. 61. Chatham's death. 62. Condition of Britain. 63. 
Howe's resignation ; Lafayette's challenge. 64. Philadelphia recovered ; 
battle of Monmouth. 65. D'Estaing against Newport. 66, 67. Massacre 
of Wyoming. 68. Clarke's conquest of the North-west. 69. War trans- 
ferred to the South. 70. Savannah taken. 



1 62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Fifth Year of the Revolution. 71. Character of operations. 72. 
Georgia subdued. 73. Charleston attacked. 74. Destruction at Norfolk. 
75. American privateers, etc. 76, Paul Jones — the Serapis. 77. The 
Northern campaign. 78. The Six Nations punished. 79. Spain joins the 
alliance ; France advises peace. 80. Attack on Savannah — repulsed. 
81. Clinton's designs ; the hard winter. 

Sixth Year of the Revolution. 82. Clinton proceeds against Charles- 
ton, which surrenders; Monk's Corner. 83. Measures to hold South 
Carolina ; the Waxhaws. 84. Battle of Camden. 85. Gates removed. 86. 
Marion ; Sumter ; Pickens. 87. Battle of King's Mountain. 88. French 
auxiliaries ; Newport. 89. Arnold's treason ; Andre. 90. Enemies of 
Britain ; the belligerents in America. 91. Revolutionary currency. 

Seventh Year of the Revolution. 92. The American ai-my ; the 
Articles of Confederation ; the finances. 93. Operations of the campaign; 
in Virginia. 94, Cornwallis's advance ; the Cowpens. 95. Morgan's re- 
treat. 96. Battle of Guilford Court-House. 97. Battle of Hobkirk's Hill. 
98. Colonel Isaac Hayne. 99. Battle of Eutaw Springs. 100. Movements 
of Cornwallis to Yorktown. lOi. Washington's scheme. 102. The French 
and British fleets. 103. The surrender of Cornwallis. 104. Clinton too 
late. 105. The close of the war. 106. Condition of the parties. 107. 
Washington retires. T08. Condition of the country. 

Establishment of the United States. 109. Failure of Articles of 
Confederation, no. Shays' Rebellion, in. New Constitution proposed. 
112. Its character ; its advocates and opponents. 113. The first Presi- 
dent and Vice-President ; the new Congress. 114. The North-west terri- 
tory ; ordinance for its regulation. 115. Frankland ; Kentucky. u6. 
Vermont ; Kentucky ; the Mississippi. 117. Death of Franklin ; his career 
and services. 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRA TION 



163 



PART IV. 
THE REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED. 

FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION TO THE MIS^ 
SOURI COMPROMISE. 



1789-1821. 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION.— 1789-1797. 

1. Washington had a difficult task before him as the 
first President of the new Government. His lofty character, 
his past services, and the favor of the people, afforded the best 
hope of success. He sum- 
moned able advisers to his 
councils. Alexander Hamil- 
ton was appointed Secretary 
of the Treasury ; Thomas 
Jefferson, Secretary of State ; 
and Henry Knox, Secretary 
of War. Edmund Randolph 
was Attorney-General, and 
John Jay, Chief- Justice of the 
Supreme Court. 

2. A revenue for the cur- 
rent expenses of the Govern- 
ment, and for the payment 
of the public liabilities, was 
the most urgent of all needs. The debt of the Union was verj- 
heavy ; the debts of the individual States reached half the 
amount of the general liability. Direct taxes were inexpedi- 




GENERAL WASHINGTON. 



1 64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ent in the condition and temper of the country. Accordingly, 
taxes were imposed upon imports and distilled liquors. 

3. Hamilton devoted himself to the regulation of the 
finances. The debts to France, Spain, and Holland could 
not be avoided. Proposals were made to scale or cancel much 
of the domestic debt. Such repudiation was earnestly opposed 
by Hamilton, who also recommended the payment of the State 
debts by the Federal Treasury. His views were adopted by 
Congress. Credit revived ; all industrial pursuits flourished ; 
the public revenues increased beyond the actual necessities of 
the Government. 

4. Hamilton, furthermore, encouraged the establish- 
ment of a National Bank. The project was resisted as 
unconstitutional. It was sustained by Congress ; but it be- 
came a source of much future discord. A mint was also in- 
stituted, and a Federal coinage was struck. 

THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY DESIRED. 

5. Grave discords had been already excited by the 

existence of negro slavery in the more Southern States, and 
by its absence or rapid extinction in the Northern. Franklin 

presented to Congress a petition for the emancipa- 
P \ tion of the negroes. Congress decided that it had 

*' no authority to interfere in the emancipation of 
slaves, or in the treatment of them in any of the States." The 
question was not set at rest, but grew in bitterness with the 
growth of time. Slavery was not excluded from the territory 
south of the Ohio, which was organized in other respects as 
that north of the river had been. 

REMOVAL OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. 

6. The seat of Government was removed to Phila- 
delphia for ten years, and after that period to the banks of 
the Potomac, where a tract, ten miles square, was ceded to the 
general Government by Virginia and Maryland. This tract 



INDIAN WARS. 



«65 



received the name of the District of Columbia. The por- 
tion given by Virginia was, many years subsequently, retro- 
ceded to that State. 

WAR WITH THE INDIANS. 

7. War soon broke out with the Indians. They were 
instigated by the British to make the Ohio their boundary. 
They attacked boats on the river, and made raids into Ken- 
tucky. The Kentuck- 
ians marched to fne 
Scioto against them, 

but accom- 
' pHshed noth- 
ing. In the fall of 
the year, General 
Harmar met with se- 
rious disaster,and fell 
into an ambush on 
the Maumee. Gen- 
eral St. Clair was sur- 
prised and routed on 
the Wabash, in the 
next campaign. After 
the league had been 
abandoned by many 
tribes, the Miam'is general wayne. 

were defeated on the Miami by General Wayne. 

THE FEDERALISTS AND ANTI-FEDERALISTS. 

8. Two political parties — the Federalists and the 
Anti-Federalists — were bitterly opposed to each other. The 
Anti-Federalists called themselves Republicans, and were 
guided by Thomas Jefferson, a man of popular manners and 
great practical ability. He was an adherent of the principles 
of the French Revolution, which had broken out in the recent 




i66 



HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 



years. Alexander Hamilton was regarded as the leader of the 
Federalists, and as partial to Great Britain and to monarchical 
institutions. Both -were in the Cabinet of Washington, v/ho 
was unable to prevent or to heal the dissensions between them. 

FRENCH INTERFEREISrCE. 

9. The arrival and conduct of M. Genest (jen-a), the 
revolutionary envoy from France, caused increased political 
acrimony. He had been directed to secure the cooperation 
of the United States with the French Republic. Neutrality 
was proclaimed about the time when he came. This he dis- 
regarded. He intruded himself into the political affairs of 
the country. He took an active part in the poHtical rivalries. 
He attacked Washington and the Government. He commis- 
sioned privateers, which captured British vessels in American 
waters, and he prepared assaults on the Spanish possessions. 
Washington was under the necessity of demanding his recall. 



THE NVHISKEY INSURRECTION. 

10. Another cause of discord was the excise, or tax 

on domestic products, which has been declared to be "' the 

horror of all free 




1794- 



States," The 
tax on spirits 
was violently op- 
posed, especially in 
Western Pennsyl- 
vania. In the coun- 
ties round Pitts- 
' burg the resistance 

WASHINGTON'S STATE COACH. ^q i^ gj-g^. j^tO a Se- 

rous insurrection. The law was powerless, and proclamations 
were of no avail. Washington determined to crush the insur- 
rection at once. He called fifteen thousand militia to the field, 



under the command of General Henrv- Lee. 



The insurgents 



TREATY WITH ALGIERS. 



.6/ 



vanished as the army approached, and the " Whiskey In- 
surrection " closed without bloodshed. 

DISPUTES \VITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

11. France had excited discords and divisions. The 
conduct of Great Britain provoked dissatisfaction. 

The provisions of the treaty of peace were not carried into 
effect. The military posts in the West were not surrendered. 
The negroes carred off from Savannah and other places were 
not paid for. British seamen were taken from American ves- 
sels, and the United States merchantmen were not permitted 
to trade with the British islands in the West Indies. An em- 
bargo * was laid on British ships by way of retaliation. At 
lengtn a treaty with England was made by John 
Ij Jay, who had been sent on an embassy, for the 
^ * prevention of war. The treaty was unsatisfactory 

in America, and gave offence to France. James Monroe was 
ambassador to the latter country. He was rebuked by his own 
Government for '' excess of fervor," and was finally recalled. 

TREATV WITH ALGIERS, Etc. 

12. An indiscreet treaty was made with the Dey \ 
of Algiers, to secure peace and the recovery of cap- 
tives. A heavy payment, an annual tribute, and the present 
of a frigate, constituted the satisfaction accorded to that prince 
of pirates. The boundaries of Florida and Louisiana were 
settled, and the navigation of the Mississippi assured by a 
more judicious treaty with Spain. 

RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 

13. In a farewell address, Washington declined a third 
election to the Presidency. He thus set an example 

* An embargo is the detention of vessels— the prohibition of the departure of ships 
from the ports in which they happen to be. 

tDcy originally meant, in Turkish, an uncle on the mother's side. It was the 
designation given to the Regents of the Barbary States under the Ottoman Sultan. 



l68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

which has so far been imitated in practice. He advised the 
people to maintain " the unity of the Government," and to 
avoid any geographical division of parties. He pointed out 
the danger of innovations on the Constitution. Thoughts of 
the dissolution of the Union had already been frequent. 

14. John Adams, of Massachusetts, was the second 
President, with Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, as Vice- 
President. Washington returned to Mount Vernon, his home 
in Virginia. He died between two and three years after his 
retirement. By request of Congress, his eulogy was pro- 
nounced by his friend and companion in arms. General 
Henry Lee ; who declared him *' first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." He had 
seen the Government established and secured, largely by 
his own wisdom and conduct. The country was advancing 
rapidly in prosperity. The population had nearly doubled 
since the beginning of the Revolution. The revenue had more 
than doubled. The imports were almost one-half larger than 
they had been. The exports were trebled. The Union had 
been enlarged by the admission of three new States — Vermont, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS.— 1797-1801. 

15. The new President and the new Vice-President repre- 
sented adverse political factions. Adams was the leader of 
the Federalists ; Jefferson of the Anti-Federalists, or Republi- 
cans. It was an awkward result of the original provision of 
the Constitution for the election of the highest executive mag- 
istrates. 

RELATIONS WITH FRANCE. 

16. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was sent ambassador to 
France on the recall of Monroe. He was not received. John 



JOHN ADAMS'S ADMINISTKA TION. 



69 



1798. 

7 July. 



Marshall * and Elbridge Gerry were joined with him as special 
envoys. They were refused a reception unless they would 
consent to pay a large sum of money. Pinckney said, " he 
would give millions for defence, not a cent for tribute"! 
American vessels had been already seized and plundered by 
the French, and fresh assaults 
on American commerce were 

now made. The 

United States pre- 

pared for war. 
General Washington was ap- 
pointed Commander-in-chief 
of the American armies. 

17. The war was con- 
fined to some slight ac- 
tions at sea. It lingered on 
for more than three years. It 
was terminated by a conven- 
tion with Napoleon Bonaparte, 
after he became First Consul 
of France. Claims for losses 
previous to this settlement occupied the attention of Congress 
more than seventy years later. 




JOHN ADAMS. 



THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS. 

18. A stringent Alien Act was passed to guard against 
intrigues and dangers apprehended from French and other for- 
eigners in the country. A severe Sedition Law was also 
•enacted to restrain the press, and to check the disturbances 



* John Marshall, of Virginia (1755-1836)— a jurist of the highest eminence — was 
Chief-Justice of the United States from 1801 to his death. 

t Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825), of South Carolina, gave utterance to 
this patriotic sentiment in response to the proposal of Talleyrand, to make a favor 
able treaty with the United States, on condition of a heavy loan to the French Gov 
emment, and of a present of $240,000 to himself. 

8 



170 



III STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



which it might |)r()ducc. Tlicsc measures provoked violent 
I7o8 °I^P^*^'^'^'^- 'l''i<-'y were denounced by the Kentucky 
Resolutions, composed mainly by Mr. Jefferson ; 
and by the Virginia Resolutions, drawn by Mr. Madison. 

WASHINGTON CITY. 

19. The seat of Government was removed to the 




-^iif^-:v. M,. jpii_^i|3*- 



THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. 

site selected for it on the banks of the Potomac. The new 
^ capital was built in the woods. It was named W^ash- 
ington, in honor of the illustrious man who had died 
at the close of the previous year.* It has now become one of 
the most beautiful cities of the world. The removal and the 
choice of the location were the result of a compromise between 
the North and tlie South. 

20. The third Presidential el(?ction was marked by the de- 



♦ Washinpton died universally lamented. Kven his bitterest assailants in his own 
country sliowed reverence for his memory. The British ships-of-war lowered their 
tlaf^s out of respect to his name. Honaparte, on tlie e\ e of tlie campaign of Marengo, 
ordered the battle-flags to be put in mourning. 

The first Congress assembled at the new capital provided for the erection of aa im- 
posing monument to commemorate his services. It is not yet completed. 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRA TlOISr, 



'7 



feat of the Federal party. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, 
both Anti-Federalists, received the largest number of electoral 
votes. Each, however, had an e([ual number. The House of 
Representatives was required by the Constitution to make 
choice between them. An effort was made to secure the elec- 
tion of Burr, by the aid of the Federalists. Jefferson was 
elected President ; * Burr, of course, became Vice-President. 
An amendment to the Constitution was adopted to prevent 
the recurrence of such hazards.t 



ADMINISTRATION OF THOMAS JEFFERSON.— 
1801-1809. 

21. Jefferson entered upon his administration at a 
favorable time. The country was prosperous. The Fed- 
eralists were overcome. Peace had been made with France. 
Jefferson affected extreme republican simplicity in dress and 
manners. The enthusiasm for French principles had been 
weakened by the late hostilities, and by the change in the 
French Government and policy. J 

THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. 

22. By the purchase of Louisiana an important exten- 
sion of territory was acquired, and the whole course of the 
Mississippi secured. Napoleon could not hope to defend it at 
a time when he was engaged in great wars with Britain, and 
on the continent of Europe. He accordingly offered to sell it 
to the United States. He remarked, on signing the treaty by 
which it was transferred, that he thus raised up a rival to Eng- 



♦ The election was made on the thirty-sixth ballot, after voting for seven days. 

t Amendment XII., 1804. This secured the two highest magistracies for the same 
party. 

% Elder JohnLcland, of Cheshire, Massachusetts, sent a huge cheese to President 
JeflEerson. It weighed sixteen hundred pounds. 



172 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



land, 




1803. 
13 April. 



which would, sooner or late^, wrest from her the 

sceptre of the 
seas." The ac- 
quisition was 
very valuable. It was re- 
garded by those who op- 
posed the purchase as 
scarcely accordant with the 
tenor of the Constitution. 
James Monroe * was the 
agent for negotiating the 
treaty. The price paid for 
the territory was fifteen 
millions of dollars. A 
quarter of this sum con- 
sisted of American claims 
THOMAS iKi-'KERsoN. on Francc. 



^^^AR WITH THE BARBARY POWERS. 

23. The piratical powers on the northern coast of 
Africa insulted and injured the vessels of the United States. 
Commodore Preble was sent to the Mediterranean, with a 
small force, to obtain redress. He forced the Em- 
peror of Morocco to make terms, and proceeded 
against Tripoli. The Philadelphia struck on a rock and was 
captured. It was burnt in the harbor by the skilful daring of 
Lieutenant Decatur,f who was soon afterwards engaged in a 



1803. 



* James Monroe (175S-1831) was present at the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, 
Gcrinantown, and Monmouth. He opposed the new Constitution. He was minister 
to the French Republic in 1794, and was sent again to France for the Louisiana pur- 
chase in 1802. 

+ Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779-1820). The burning of the Fhiladelphia was 
suggested by Capt. Eainbridge, then a prisoner in Tripoli. The combat with the Tri- 
politan captain, who was a very powerful man, occurred in August, 1804. In 1S12, 
Decatur, in the United States^ captured the British frigate Macedonian. In 1814, the 
squadron which he commanded was blockaded at New London by the British. In 
1815, he was captured in the President. In the summer of that year he dictated 



AARON BURR, 



173 



desperate encounter with a Turkish captain. The city was 
threatened by a land force under Capt. Eaton, formerly Amer- 
ican consul at Tunis, and Hamct, the brother of the Dey of 
Tripoli. They had taken Derne {der'ne)^ with the aid of Com- 
modore Barron * and the fleet. Tunis submitted on the ap- 
pearance of the American flotilla. Further successes were pre- 
vented by the reestablishment of peace. 

AARON BURR. 

24. The disappointed ambition of Burr produced dis- 
astrous consequences. He regarded Hamilton as the chief 

cause of his defeat. He challenged and killed 
, ^', him on the Jersey shore of the Hudson River, op- 
posite the city of New York. Burr fell into greater 
discredit than before. When Jefferson was reelected Presi- 
dent, Burr was replaced as Vice-President by George Clinton. 
He engaged in lawless schemes in his bitterness and despera- 
tion. It is uncertain whether he designed the conquest of a 
part of Mexico, or the separation of the south-western terri- 
tory and the creation of a new republic. He was arrested, 
J, conveyed to Richmond, and imprisoned. He was ac- 
'* quitted on his trial before Chief-Justice Marshall. 
His brilliant career ended in disgrace, obscurity, and de- 
spair. 

LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPLORATION. 

25. Much of the territory included under the name 
of Louisiana was an unknown wilderness. Jefferson sent 



peace to the Dey of Algiers. He fell in a duel with Commodore Barron, 22d March, 
1820. 

* Commodore James Barron (1768-1851) received his commission in 1798, on the 
formation of the United States navy. In 1807, the Chesapeake^ commanded by him, 
was attacked by the British frigate Leopard^ and surrendered. Me vvras tried by 
court-martial, and suspended for five years. These transactions led to the duel with 
Decatur. 



174 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

an expedition under Lewis * and Clarke to explore it. They 

were engaged in their difficult and hazardous jour- 

t* ney two years and a half. They started from St. 

* Louis, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and descended 

the Columbia River to the Pacific. 

CONTROVERSIES WITH GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE. 

26. The interests of the United States at sea were 
grievously harassed by the measures of both England and 
France. Long and anxious negotiations failed to secure re- 
dress from either. The British Orders in Council \ and the 
Imperial Decrees of Napoleon X were equally obnoxious. Jay's 
treaty had not relieved American vessels from impressment of 
British sailors, or from the seizure of enemies' goods on board. 
The orders of the British Government were executed in an 
arrogant and offensive manner, which inflamed the indignation 
occasioned by them. 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND THE LEOPARD. 

27. The right of search § was enforced by the British 
cruisers, which took from American ships all who were, or who 
were alleged to be, British seamen. These proceedings passed 

beyond endurance, when the Chesapeake was 

J ' ' stopped off the capes of Virginia, fired into, and 

boarded by the British frigate Leopard. Four 



* Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was born near Charlottesville, Va. He was private 
secretary to President Jefferson, 1801-1803. In 1803 he was sent, with Capt. Wm. 
Clarke, on the exploring expedition. He is supposed to have shot himself in Tennes- 
see, in a fit of despondency. 

t The British Orders in Council were State Papers, issued by George III., " by and 
with the advice of his Privy Council," in retaliation for Napoleon's Berlin Decree. 
These orders prohibited all trade by neutrals with the ports of France and her al- 
lies. They were renewed with increasing stringency. 

X These decrees were the Berlin and Milan decrees, designed to close the ports of 
the continent to British trade, and to exclude BritiBh products from the mainland of 
Europe. The Berlin Decree (21st Nov. 1806) declared the British islands under block- 
ade, and authorized the seizure of all vessels coming from British harbors, and of 
British goods wherever they might be found. The Milan Decree repeated and ex- 
tended these severe measures against commerce. 

§ The right of search was the alleged right of stopping on the high seas vessels 



CLOSE OF JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 175 

men were carried off. The British ministry promptly dis- 
avowed the act. The indignity was left for several years un- 
redressed. After the battle of Trafalgar, France had scarcely 
a ship-of-war on the ocean, and Great Britain was alone able 
to commit such offences. 

THE EMBARGO. 

28. An act prohibiting importation from England 

had been passed previous to this time. The President ordered 
all the war vessels of Britain from American harbors, and for- 
bade intercourse with them. These measures proved insuffi- 
cient. All efforts to secure a satisfactory treaty failed. An 
- embargo was, therefore, passed, prohibiting the 

op. departure of American vessels from American 

ports. This act produced much injury and small 
benefit. The embargo was evaded. It was resisted by the 
FederaHsts, who acquired new strength from the ineffectual 
measures, which were ruinous to American commerce. The 
immediate consequence was the division of the political parties 
into the war party and the peace party. Unhappily, the divis- 
ion was, in the main, geographical. The agricultural States 
of the South formed the war party. The commercial States 
of the North were the party opposed to war. 

CLOSE OF JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 

29. The war did not break out during the Presi- 
dency of Jefferson. He retired to his home at Monti- 
cello, in Virginia, after declining, like Washington, a third 
election. He died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, on the same day with John Adams, his 
predecessor in the Presidency. 

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 

30. The progress of the country under Jefferson's 



sailing under a foreign flag, for the purpose of ascertaining whether they had 
persons or goods on board liable to seizure, or rendering the vessel liable to capture 



176 



HISTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



administration was surprising. Louisiana had been bought. 

Ohio had 
been receiv- 
ed into the 
Union. The 
popu 1 a t i o n 
exceeded 
seven mil- 
lions. Steam 
had been ap- 
plied to river 
navi g a t i o n 
by Robert 
Fulton.* In- 
dustry of all 

kinds was flourishing. The exports had increased sixfold in 
sixteen years, and had risen to $108,000,000. Cotton was 
shipped to the amount of sixty-two million pounds.f The in- 
vention or improvement of the cotton-gin by Whitney X enor- 
mously extended the manufacture and the culture of cotton. 




MONTICELLO. 



* Robert Fulton (1765-1815) was a miniature painter, and was sent to London to be 
instructed by Gilbert West. Hearing of the experiments of Fitch and Evans, he 
studied mechanics and engineering, and constructed a steam-vessel. The success of 
his invention was established in 1807, by a voyage from New York to Albany and 
back, at the rate of five miles an hour. He afterwards turned his attention to torpe- 
does and marine batteries. Thomas Carlyle says Fulton derived his scheme from 
Miller's steamboat on the Thames, in 1793. 

t The War of the Revolution broke up the trade of South Carolina and Georgia in 
rice and indigo, which were procured during that period from the East Indies. The 
raising and exportation cf cotton seem also to have been abandoned, and not revived 
for some time. A Southern representative said in Congress, in 1789 : " Cotton was 
in contemplation amongst them ; and, if good seed could be procured, he hoped it 
might succeed." 

$ Eli Whitney (1765-1825) invented the cotton-gin, for separating the seed from the 
cotton, in 1793, A contrivance for the same purpose had been made by DuBreuil, in 
Louisiana, in 1752. Whitney was ruined by infractions of his patent, and engaged in 
manufacturing fire-arms. 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



177 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON.— 
1809-1817. 

31. James Madison,* of Virginia, succeeded Thomas 
Jefferson as President. George Clinton, of New York, was 
reelected Vice - President. Public affairs were full of per- 
plexity and alarm. The country was drifting into war with 
either England or France, perhaps with both. The measures 
adopted to avert the danger, and yet secure redress, produced 
no effect upon the adverse powers. They were very damag- 
ing to the United States. The embargo proved worse than 
useless. It was passionately opposed in New England and 
elsewhere. 

THE "PRESIDENT" AND THE "LITTLE BELT." 



32. The embargo was repealed. 

lowed by measures equally 
vain and equally annoying. 
Negotiations were kept up, 
and provoked fresh resent- 
ment. The sorest griev- 
ance was the seizure of 
seamen on American ves- 
sels. The President was 
ordered to sea for the pro- 

tectionof Amer 

ican sailors. It 

chased and en- 
gaged the Little Belt, of less 
than half its force, and in- 
flicted serious damage. This 
action became a new cause 



The repeal was fol- 



1811. 
16 May. 




JAMES MADISON. 



Df controversy ; yet war was still delayed. 



* James Madison (1751-1836) was a member of the Virginia Convention cf 1776 ; ol 
that of 1788 ; and of that of 1829. He was a member of the Continental Conjr-ess in 

8-* 



178 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



^^^AR ^ATITH TECUMSEH. 



33. A great Indian war occupied the interval. It was 
ascribed to British instigation. A league of several tribes was 
formed by the Shawanee " prophet," and his brother Tecum- 
seh — " the flying tiger." Tecumseh failed in a plot to seize 
General Harrison, the Governor of Indiana. He then went 
southward to draw the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws 
into the league. In his absence General Harrison marched 
towards the prophet's town, situated at the junction of the 
Tippecanoe with the Wabash. The prophet proposed a 
treaty. The Indians treacherously attempted to 
-^ * surprise the camp of the Americans before dawn. 

' * They were discovered, repulsed, and driven into 

the woods, after a bloody conflict. 



THE WAR OF 1812 WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

34. A tardy reparation was made for the attack of the 
Leopard on the Chesapeake. The Orders in Council were par- 
tially revoked in favor of the United States.* The insufficient 
redress came too late. The war party induced Mr. 
_ * Madison, as the presidential election approached, 
to recommend Congress to declare war. A bill 
for the purpose was passed, and war was proclaimed about 
midsummer. 



1780 ; of the Constituent Convention of 1787 ; and of the National Congress in 1789= 
He strenuously advocated the new Constitution, and contributed most of the essays 
to the Federalist. He drafted the Virginia Resolutions of 1798-1799, and sustained 
them in an elaborate report. He was Secretary of State under Jefferson. After 
ceasing to be President, he remained tranquilly at Montpelier, his home, in Orange 
County, Virginia. 

* The American envoy did not communicate, till 20th May, Napoleon's revocation 
of the Berlin and Mi'an decrees in favor of the United States. 




iiift^^^ iC.H 

HINGTCN 



Kiiijraved fur IJuliiu'i^llintori/ oj L'liiltd iStaUa, 



INVASION OF CANADA. jyg 



INVASION OF CANADA. 



35. Canada had always been coveted by the United 
States. The hope of its easy conquest had strengthened the 
desire for war. The campaign was planned for its acquisition. 
The command along the frontier, from Lake Champlain to Lake 
Superior, was distributed between Generals Dearborn, Van 
Rensselaer, and Hull. 

36. General Hull * crossed the Detroit River as soon 
as his instructions reached him. He advanced in a hesitating 
manner. General Brock was approaching with a small British 
force. He was accompanied by Brant and the Mohawks, and 
by Tecumseh with the remnants of the Indian League. Hull 
returned to Detroit, and surrendered it after a slight attack.f 
He was tried, and condemned to be shot. The President par- 
doned him. 

37. The invasion was resumed at the other end of 
Lake Erie. It had been delayed by an armistice, which was 
disallowed by the American Government. An attack was 

^ made on the British at Queenstown, on the 

^ * Canada side of the Niagara River. The British 
were at first driven back. They were reinforced 
by General Brock, who was killed in the action. Other rein- 
forcements arrived, and the Americans were forced to sur- 
render, with Colonel Winfield Scott, their commander. The 
militia refused to cross the river, alleging that they were not 
bound to serve beyond the limits of their country. A few 
slight successes were gained by the Americans. They had to 
lament an atrocious massacre by the Pottawottomies {pot'ta- 
wot'to-mes)^ at Fort Dearborn, on the site of Chicago. 

* General William Hull (1753-1825) was in several battles of the Revolution. The 
injustice of the sentence of the court-martial, and of Hull's treatment, is now gener- 
ally recognized. 

+ With Detroit the whole Michigan territory was surrendered. 

X Colonel Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was born at Petersburg, Va. The leading iiv 
cidents of his career are prominent in the subsequent history. 



i8o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



NAVAL EXPLOITS. 

38. The navy had won gratifying triumphs. The 

American frigate JLsscx took the British sloop-of-war Alert. 
The Constitution escaped from a squadron by which it was sur- 
rounded, fell in with the Giicrricre {^hcr-ydre'), and captured 
it. The JVas/> boarded and took the Frolic, but both were 
captured two hours later. Decatur, in the United States, 
compelled the Macedonian to surrender, off the island of Ma- 
deira. The Constitution, in a second cruise, took the Java, 
near San Salvador. The prize was so much injured that it 
was burnt. Three hundred vessels were taken during the 
year, by the public vessels and the privateers of the United 
States. 

39. Flotillas were prepared on Lakes Erie and On- 
tario for the next campaign, as the need of naval support had 
been seriously felt in the invasion of Canada. Madison had 
disarmed the opposition in his own party by adopting the war 
policy; and was reelected President, with Gerry as Vice-Presi- 
dent. Clinton, the former Vice-President, was dead. 

PURPOSE OF THE SECOND CAMPAIGN. 

40. The second campaign, like the first, was designed 
mainly for the conquest of Canada. The capture of Montreal 
was proposed. The American forces on the frontier were 
again divided into three bodies : the army of the West, under 
General Harrison ; * the army of the Centre, and the army of 
the North, both under General Dearborn, who retained the 
chief command. 

THE MASSACRE OF THE RIVER RAISIN. 

41. The year opened with a horrible disaster. A 



* General William Henry Harrison {\-]i },-\%^\) was the son of Benjamin Harrison, 
Governor of Virfjinia. He was Secretary of the North-west Territory in 1797, and 
Governor of the territory of Indiana in 1801. He was elected President in 1840, 
and died a month after assuminjj his office. 



BATTLES OF LAKE ERIE AND THE 77/ AMES. 18 1 

detachment marclied over the ice of Lake Erie, and drove the 
British from the river Raisin. General Winchester brought 
up reinforcements. 'J'he Americans were attacked and routed 
by Colonel Proctor, half of whose force consisted of Indians. 
Winchester, and his second in command, were captured. 
^ Their troops surrendered, on Proctor's promise of 

protection and safety. The Indians began to 
plunder at once. They burnt the sick and wounded 
in the houses ; threw others into the flames ; tomahawked and 
scalped many more. Proctor did not interpose. Only thirty- 
three escaped out of a thousand. 

42. The operations on the northern frontier were 
trifling, for the most part. General Harrison was besieged 
at the Maumee Rapids by Proctor and Tecumseh. He was 
relieved, but lost a detached body of eight hundred men. 
Toronto was taken and plundered by Dearborn. In the at- 
tack General Pike was slain, and two hundred men were killed 
or wounded by the explosion of a powder magazine, fired by 
the British on their retreat. Toronto was captured a second 
time during the summer, and much damage was inflicted. 

BATTLES OF LAKE ERIE AND THE THAMES. 

43. In the autumn more important successes were 
gained, at the ui)per end of Lake Krie. Commodore Perry,* 

with a hastily constructed fleet, completely defeated 

^ Capt. Barclay. He announced his victory to 

General Harrison in the words : " We have met the 

enemy, and they are ours." The lake being cleared of the 

British, General Harrison and his army were carried to the 

Canadian shore by the American ships. They brought the 

^ enemy to an engagement on the river Thames. In 

* five minutes the British regulars surrendered. In 

ten minutes the Indians were scattered. Tecumseh lay with 

the dead. Hull's disaster was retrieved. 

♦ Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819) served under Preble a(.'ainsl Tripoli. He died of 
yellow fever on his birthday. 



i8: 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



44. The invasion of Canada on the line of the St. 

Lawrence failed. The several generals held different views 

and did not act in concert. Operations were delayed till so 

late in the season that storm and frost were added to the 

, ^T hazards of battle. The Americans encountered 
II Nov. 

the British at Chrysler's Field. They withdrew in 

the night, after having been hotly engaged, in snow and sleet, 

for five hours. 



THE CHESAPEAKE AND THE SHANNON. 

45. The Americans met with more disasters than 

/ \ 



Kf\fim^ 




CAPT. LAWRENCE AND THE CHESAPEAKE. 

advantages at sea this year. The coast of the United States 
was blockaded, and much of the navy was shut up in the har- 
bors. Capt. Lawrence * attacked the Peacock off Demerara, 



♦ James Lawrence (1781-1813) also served against Tripoli. He commanded the 
Hornet when he captured the Peacock. 



THE THIRD CAMPAIGN. 183 

reduced her to a sinking condition, and compelled her to strike 
her colors. He was promoted, and appointed to the command 
of the Chesapeake, at Boston. Capt. Broke, of the Shan- 
non, one of the blockaders of that port, challenged the Chesa- 
^ peakc. The challenge was accepted. The Ches- 

T apeake was rendered helpless in the action by 

I June, f ^ . . \ ,/ 

damage to her riggmg. Lawrence was mortally 

wounded. His last orders were : " Don't give up the ship ; 

fight her till she sinks." Broke boarded her, took her, and 

carried her as a prize to Halifax. 

46. A British attempt on Norfolk was foiled by the 
fortifications of Craney Island, and by the determination of 
sailors from the Constitution and of the Virginia militia. A 
descent was made upon Hampton, which was plundered. Ra- 
pine and outrage were extended along the shores of Chesa- 
peake Bay. 

47. The bloody war with the Creeks began in this 
summer and continued through the next. During the same 
period, a proposal of mediation between the United States 
and England was offered by Russia. 

THE THIRD CAMPAIGN. 

48. The overthrow and dethronement of Bonaparte 

enabled the British to increase their energy in America. The 
United States had gained little, and had lost much by the war. 
The attempt to conquer Canada had been twice unsuccessful. 
The war vessels could scarcely venture out of port. The for- 
eign trade of the country was destroyed. The taxes were 
heavily augmented ; and the ability to pay taxes was dimin- 
ished. The merchants, the ship-owners, and the Federal 
party had always opposed hostilities. Their dissatisfaction, 
especially in New England, was now heightened by past fail- 
ures, by present distress, and by growing perils. 

THE CREEK WAR. 

49. The Creek War must be noticed at this point, as it 



1 84 in STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

is closely connected with the later events of the war with (ireat 
Britain. The Indian war broke out during the previous sum- 
mer, and was continued while military operations along the 
northern line were interrupted by the severity of winter. The 
Creeks had been aroused l)y a second visit from Tecumseh, 
after the Call of Detroit. The C'reeks were divided. Those 
west of tiie Chattahoochee i)ut on the war-paint. Those east 
of that river sought the protection of the United States, Tlie 
war was waged without mercy on either side. 

50. Fort Mimms, on the Alabama River, was taken by 

Weathersford, a fearless and powerful chief of the Creeks. 

Those found within the fort were massacred. They were not 

unavenged. Overwhelming forces were collected, and the 

hostile Oceks were assailed from several quarters at once. 

(ieneral Andrew Jackson held the chief commmand.* He 

advanced from Tennessee. Tal'lasehatch'e was taken and 

« destroyed. Every warrior was slain. At Tal'la- 

>T ' de'ga, a thousand Creeks were routed, and two 

hundred and ten of them slain, in a quarter of an 

hour. Ceneral Floyd, from Georgia, burnt Autoss'e, and slew 

. - two hundred Indians. General Claiborne and some 
24 Nov. 

P^ * C'hoctaws under Pushmataha (pus/i'-niaf-a-Iiaiv), 

came from Mississii)pi, defeated Weathersford, f 
and destroyed Eccanachaca {ek-kan-a-chaH ka) y or "The Holy 
Ground," a town recently built by the Creek chief. The 



♦ General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845") and his widowed mother were driven from 
their home at the Waxhaws, in South CaroHna, l)y the brutahty of Tarleton's cavalry, 
in 1780. Hoy as lie was, he joined the army, and was taken prisoner the next year. 
He removed to Tennessoe. After two terras as President, he returned, in 1837, to 
"The llermita;,^-," his home near Nashville. 

t William Weathersford, or Weatherford, was a half-breed, the son of Charles 
Weathersford, a Georgian, \on^ resident among the Creeks. When WeaUicrsford 
came to deliver himself up, an altercation with " the Big Warrior " attracted Jack- 
son to the door of his tent. Weathersford said : " General Jackson, I am not afraid 
of you ; I fear no man, for I am a Creek warrior. I have nothing to request for my- 
self ; you can kill me if you desire ; but send for the women and children of the war 
party who are starving in the woods." The crowd cried, " Kill him! kill him !" 
General Jackson sternly rebukeil them, saying: " Any man who could kill as brave 
a man as this, would rob the dead." Weathersford died in 1826, greatly respected. 



l.UNDV'S LANE. 



'85 



prbphets had declared that no white man could approach it 
without sure destruction. Weathersford escaped by forcing 
his horse over a precipice and plunging into the river below, 

51. Tohope'ka, or "The Horseshoe" of the Tallapoosa 
River, was a fortified camp, occupied by twelve hundred In- 

Q dians. Jackson assailed them next spring with 

-_ * twice their number. The assault was begun in 
* the rear, and the village was set on fire. The 
breastwork of logs across the neck of land on the front was 
stormed. Those who endeavored to escape were shot down. 
Those who sought refuge in the brushy undergrowth were burnt 
out and killed by the Tennessee riflemen. Nearly half the In- 
dians were slaughtered. Tlie Oeeks begged for peace. They 
were ordered to give up Weathersford. One evening, as the 
sun went down, Weathersford rode into Jackson's camp, on 
the gray liorse which had saved him at ** The Holy Ground." 
Ail the lands of the Upper Creeks, except a tract of 150,000 
acres, were ceded to the United States by the treaty of Fort 
Jackson, which closed the Indian hostiHties for a time. 

LUNDV'S LANE. 

52. The third campaign in the North was a third at- 
tempt to concpier Canada, (ieneral Ikovvn was the American 
commander-in-chief on the St. Lawrence. He crossed the 
Niagara, and took Fort Erie. General Scott was sent for- 
ward to meet General Riall, who was coming to its relief. 
They met at Chip'pewa {-way). The British were pressed 
back. Riall was joined by General Drummond, and Scott 
encountered the combined forces at Lundy's Lane,* a 

t8 /I ^^^d between the Niagara and r>ake Ontario. The 

w -* actual battle began a little before sunset, and was 

prolonged till midnight. 

The thunders of the Falls of Niagara blended with the roar 

of the cannon and the rattle of musketry. The smoke of bat- 

• The battle of Lundy's Lane has also the names <jf Niagara and BridKcwatcr. 



1 86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

tie was lighted up by the moonlight and the flashes of the 
guns. The British were pushed from the field ; but they re- 
turned and reoccupied the ground. The Americans fell back 
to Fort Erie, which was besieged. When winter came, the 
fort was abandoned and blown up. 

THE BATTLES OF PLATTSBURG, 

53. Gratifying successes were achieved, on land and 
water, at the eastern end of the line of operations. A descent 
on Canada, in that quarter, had failed in the spring. Towards 
the fall of the year, Sir George Prevost (pre-vo). Governor of 
the province, invaded New York by way of Lake Champlain. 
General Macomb {jnak-koofn) commanded the American land 
forces at Plattsburg, and Commodore McDonough the 

J. flotilla on the lake. Both were attacked on the 

^^ * same day. Both attacks failed. Downie, the 
* British commodore, was killed early in the action 
between the fleets. His flag-ship surrendered, and another 
vessel was taken. Macomb repulsed every effort of the en- 
emy to cross the Saranac, and the land force withdrew when 
the fleet was defeated. 

CAPTURE OF WASHINGTON. 

54. The blockade of the seaboard was maintained. 

Admiral Cochrane was ordered " to destroy the coast-towns 
and ravage the country." He entered the Chesapeake, con- 
veying a land force under General Ross. One part of the 
fleet sailed up the Potomac ; the other continued to ascend 
the bay. Ross landed and marched on Washington. No 
« effectual resistance was made to his progress, 

- * though the President appeared in person on the field 
^* of Bladensburg. Washington was occupied. 
The unfinished capitol and the public buildings were burnt. 
Next night the invaders withdrew. Alexandria was plundered 



BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



187 




^. . >-~ 



BATTLE MONUMENT AT BALTIMORE. 



by the fleet. Baltimore was next threatened. General Ross 
was killed, and the attack was frustrated.* 



THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 

55. The movements against Washington and Baltimore were 
designed to conceal operations in the Gulf of Mexico. 



* Fort McHenry, at the mouth of the Patapsco, was bombarded by the fruns of the 
fleet. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was composed during this bombardment, by 
Francis S. Key, who was detained on board of one of the British ships. A handsome 
monument was erected to the memory of those who had fallen in defence of the city. 



HISTOK Y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



The Creeks had been encouraged and aided in the Indian 
war by the British at Pensacola. An attack, by sea and land, 
on Fort Bowyer, near Mobile, was repulsed. General Jack- 
son marched on Pensacola and forced the town and forts to 
surrender. He hastened back to Mobile, and heard that the 
British Avere threatening Louisiana. New Orleans was in 
danger of being given up. Jackson called for volunteers, es- 
tablished martial law, and welcomed La Fitte {lahfeet') with 
his pirates, or privateersmen, from Barataria."^ 
56. Louisiana was invaded by Sir Edward Paken- 
__ ham {paken- 

-^-"'i^-"^" ---i^^^B^ -^^ _ ^^'i) with eight 

__^=^T^ ^ thousand men 

and fifty ships, 
carrying a thou- 
sand guns. 
When the in- 
vaders landed, 
they were at- 
tacked by Gen- 
eral Jackson. 
He then fell 
back to the 
plains of Chal- 
m e t t e {shal- 
7net'), and there 

repulsed an attack of the British. Ten days later Pakenham 
repeated the onset. He was twice struck, and was mortally 




OLD SPANISH HOUSE IN NEW ORLEANS. 



* Barataria is an inlet of the Gulf, south of New Orleans. 

While the city was under martial law, Judge Hall extended the protection of the 
civil law to an offender under military arrest. Jackson arrested and expelled the 
Judge, 

On the abrogation of martial law, Judge Hall brought Jackson before his court and 
fined him $1,000. The fine was paid at once. It was repaid by Congress thirty years 
afterwards. 

During the proceedings the judge was alarmed by the display of enthusiasm in 
behalf of Jackson. The general cried out : '' There is no danger here— there shall be 
none. The same hand that protected the city will shield and protect the court." 



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THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. igp 

.* General Gibbs, the second in command, 

I8I5. 



wounded.* General Gibbs, the second in command, was 
killed, General Keane, the third in rank, was 



^ _ wounded, and left the field. When the British 

reserves were brought up, they could only protect 
the retreat. The British loss was very heavy ; the American 
was very slight. \ The battle of New Orleans was the 
last and the severest battle of the war. Peace had already 
been made, but the news had not reached America. 

THE ESSEX. 

57. The daring cruise of the Essex, under Capt. Por- 
ter, was the most remarkable naval event of the year. Porter 
had sailed from the Delaware in the previous autumn. He 
captured many prizes off the coasts of South America, Africa, 
and the islands of the Pacific. He pursued his lonely wan- 
derings over the great ocean, and sailed for the western coast 
of South America. The Essex was taken, near Valparaiso, by 
two British sloops-of-war, which had been dispatched for its 
destruction. 

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 

58. Peace was much needed. The war had been very 
burdensome and very ruinous, without producing any result. 
Commerce was destroyed. Industry of all kinds was de- 
pressed. Taxes were increased. The public finances were 
in a deplorable state. The debt had risen to $150,000,000, 
and loans could be made only on the most disadvantageous 
terms. The discontent of the New England States menaced 



* The forces engaged, and the losses sustained, have been variously stated. The 
British loss has been put as high as two thousand one hundred killed and wounded, 
besides five hundred prisoners. The American loss has been reduced as ;o\v as seven- 
teen. There was certainly wide disparity in the losses. The Americans iought with 
the deadly Western rifle from behind breastworks. The English advanced over the 
open plain. It is popularly asserted that the barricades consisted of cotton bales. 
Only a few cotton bales were used. 

+ As the British approached the breastworks, Jackson called out to his men : " Don't 
waste your ammunition : see that every shot tells." 



ipo HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

a serious revolt. The Massachusetts Legislature recommend^ 

^ ed a convention of the States opposed to the war. 

^ The convention met at Hartford, and demanded 

ic Dec. 

grave alterations in the Constitution. The return 

of peace put an end to the causes of complaint. The Hart- 
ford Convention* passed away, without having produced 
any action in accordance with the spirit displayed. 

THE TREATY OF GHENT. 

59. Conferences had been opened at Ghent, with a 
view to the restoration of peace. The mediation of the Czar 
of Russia had been accepted by President Madison, in the 
second year of the war. It had been declined by England. 
After the overthrow of Napoleon, the conferences were held. 

^ The treaty signed there put an end to hostilities. 

-^ None of the grievances which had caused the war 
were removed by it. The Senate ratified the 
treaty by a unanimous vote. 

THE BARBARY WAR. 

60. Algiers declared war, and renewed its attacks on 
American commerce, soon after the peace with Britain. Capt. 
Decatur captured the largest vessel of the Algerine navy, and 
the Dey accepted terms creditable to the United States. 
Tunis and Tripoli were then compelled to enter into satisfac- 
tory arrangements. 

THE RETURN OF PEACE. 

61. Manufactures to supply home wants had engaged 
much attention during the war, after American ships had been 
driven from the ocean and foreign trade destroyed. The new 

* The Hartford Convention consisted of twenty-six delegates, from Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It adopted strong reso- 
lutions and recommendations to the other States, contemplating important changes 
in the Constitution and Government. An expectation prevailed at its adjournment 
that it would meet again for more definite and decisive action. The Treaty of Peace 
rendered this unnecessary. 



THE RETURN- OF PEACE. ipi 

factories and industries were endangered on the return of 
peace. Foreign goods could be introduced and sold at a 
lower price than the cost of making them in America. Pro- 
tection against this danger was sought. Thus the tariff ques- 
tion'" became prominent in politics. It has since divided 
parties and sections. The necessities of the Government were 
supposed to favor the demands of the manufacturers. Heavy- 
duties were, in consequence, imposed on foreign commodities. 
62. A national bank, chartered for twenty years, was in- 
stituted at Philadelphia two years after the war. The Colon- 
ization Society, to provide homes for free negroes and liberated 
slaves, was established. It resulted in the foundation of a 
black republic, called Liberia, on the western coast of Africa 
The slave trade had been prohibited nine years before the 
close of Madison's administration. Two new States, one in 
the South, and one in the North — Louisiana and Indiana — were 
received into the Union while Mr. Madison was President.f 
He was succeeded in his high office by James Monroe. 



THE FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MONROE— 

1817-1821. 

63. Monroe's administration was called the era of 
good feeling. During this period the losses of the war 
ceased to be felt. The public revenues increased with the 
growth of the country. All branches of industry prospered. 



* A tariff is alist of duties charged on enumerated commodities, when imported or 
exported. 

The " tariff question " is the phrase employed in the United States to denote the con- 
troversy between those who favor the protection of American manufactures by heavy 
customs or duties on such articles when imported from abroad, and those who op- 
pose such impositions and advocate low duties for the sake of revenue. 

t In 1811, during Mr. Madison's Presidency, the trading post of Astoria, at the 
mouth of the Columbia River, was established by John Jacob Astor, of New York. 
The breaking out of the war of i8xj necessitated the transfer of the settlement to the 
British Fur Company. 



192 



inSTOR V OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



Party bitterness was for a time allayed. The moderation of 
the President conciliated opponents. The able men in his 
cabinet promoted his efforts to secure good-will. 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

Monroe's first message recommended the con- 
struction of great roads, canals, 
fortifications, and other public 
works. The want of them had 
been experienced in the late 
war. They were required, also, 
to encourage the settlement of 
the new lands in the interior. 
The republicans (or democrats) 
denied their constitutionality. 
The question of internal im- 
provements thus became, like 
the tariff, a ground of differ- 
ence between the great political 
parties. The national road,* 
however, was extended. It had been begun under Jefferson's 
administration. The Erie canal was constructed by the State 
of New York. The internal taxes, levied during the war, 
were repealed, to the great relief and satisfaction of the people. 
65. The piratical nests at Galveston, in Texas, and at 
Amelia Island, on the coast of Florida, were broken up. 
Swift vessels had issued from those retreats and had preyed 
upon the commerce of Spain and other nations, under pre- 
tence of bearing commissions f from the American republics 
which had revolted from the Spanish crown. 




JAMES MONROE. 



* The National or Cumberland Road extended from Cumberland, Md., to Wheel- 
ing, Va. 

+ These commissions were " letters of marque," cr national licenses, authorizing 
private persons, at their own risk and expense, to seize the property of enemies at 
sea. 



ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA. 1 93 

JACKSON'S INROAD INTO FLORIDA. 

66. The Creeks had been driven into Florida by the 

overwhelming disasters of the Creek war. They stirred up the 
Seminoles to hostilities. With a force larger than the whole 
Seminole nation, Jackson drove the Indians before him, and 
seized St. Mark's. He hanged two British subjects, on the 
charge of having excited the Indians to war. He then took 
Pensacola, and received the submission of Fort Barrancas, to 
which the Spanish Governor had fled. As Florida belonged, 
at this time, to Spain, these procedures were in violation of in- 
ternational law. They were sustained, however, by a majority 
in the Lower House of Congress. 

ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA. 

67. The unscrupulous energy of General Jackson 

quickened the negotiations in progress for the acquisition of 
Florida, and for the determination of the western boundary 
of Louisiana. The Colorado had been proposed by Adams * 
as the frontier of that State. The Sabine was the limit fixed 
^ by the treaty. The Floridas were transferred to 

«^ "c tv ^'^ United States in satisfaction of claims amount- 

22 r CD. • A< rr^l 1 • . , 

ing to $5,000,000. Ihese claims are not entirely 
settled yet. 

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 

68. The application of Missouri for admission into 
the Union aggravated the discords between the Northern and 
Southern States, which, after forty years of further contro- 



* John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the Secretary of State, was the son of President 
John Adams. At fourteen he was private secretary of Dana, United States Minister 
to St. Petersburg. In 179 ^ he was Minister to the Netherlands, and afterwards to 
Portugal and to Prussia. In 1805 he was Minister to Russia. He was chief Plenipo- 
tentiary to Ghent in 1814 ; and next year, Ambassador at London. He became Presi- 
dent in i32-. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1831, and 
remained a member till his death. His fatal attack seized him while occupying his seat 
in the House. He was carried to the Speaker's room, where he died, on the second 
day. His last words were, *' This is the end of earth ; I am content." 



194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

versy, produced the War of Secession. It caused a contest for 
power between the slave-holding and the non-slave-holding 
States. One party desired the exclusion of slavery from the 
new State ; the other, its retention. The prospect of civil war 
was recognized. The question was revived with greater in- 
tensity when Maine applied for admission at the ensuing ses- 
sion of Congress. Thomas, of Illinois, proposed to allow 
slavery in Missouri, but to exclude it from the rest of Lou- 
isiana, north of the parallel of 2>^° 20'. This condition was 
jj adopted when Missouri was accepted as a State.* 

^ - ' Maine was first admitted : Missouri had to wait 
21 Aug. 

another year. 

69. Mr. Monroe's second term of office began before 

the admission of Missouri. During his first term four States 
were received into the Union : Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, 
and Maine. Provision had been made for admitting Mis- 
souri also. 

70. The Atlantic was first crossed by a steam ves- 
sel during this period. The Savannah, a very small craft, 

jj passed from Savannah, in Georgia, to Liverpool.! 

, / It pointed the way for the large and multitudinous 
steamships that now traverse the oceans in all 
directions. 



* This provision is known in the subsequent history as the " The Missouri Com- 
promise." 

t Sails were used as well as steam. In bad weather the wheels were unshipped. 
The Savannah was twenty-five days, after leaving Savannah, before it came in sight 
of the coast of Ireland. 



SUM MAR V FOR RE VIE W. , (^tj 



SUMMARY OF TOPICS.— PART IV. 
THE REPUBLIC ESTABLISHED. 

Washington's Administration, i. Washington's task ; his Cabi- 
net. 2. Raising a revenue. 3. Hamilton's policy. 4. A National Bank • 
a mint. 5. Anti-slavery petition ; slavery south of the Ohio. 6. Washing- 
ton City. 7, War with the Indians. 7. Federalists and Anti-F'ederalists ', 
their leaders. 9. Genest and French interference. 10. The whiskey in- 
surrection. II. Disputes with Britain; the Jay treaty. 12. Treaty with 
Algiers; with Spain. 13. Washington's retirement. 14. His successor; 
Washington's death ; progress of the country. 

Administration of John Adams. 15. Antagonism of President and 
Vice-President. 16. Troubles with France. 17. War with PVance. 18. 
Alien and sedition laws ; Kentucky and Virginia resolutions. 19. Wash- 
ington the seat of Government. 20. Third presidential election ; amend- 
ment to the Constitution 

Jefferson's Administration. 21. Aspect of affairs; Jefferson's manners. 
22. Purchase of Louisiana. 23. War with Barbary States ; Decatur ; 
Eaton. 24. Aaron Burr ; death of Hamilton ; Burr's schemes. 25. Lewis 
and Clarke's expedition. 26. Controversy with Britain ; orders in coun- 
cil and imperial decrees. 27. Chesapeake and Leopaid. 28. Embargo. 
29. Jefferson's retirement. 30. Progress made. 

Madison's Administration. 31. Dangers in prospect, 'i'2. President 
and Little Belt. 33. War with Tecumseh ; Tippecanoe. 

War of 1812. 34. British reparation ; war declared. 35. Canadaat- 
tacked. 36. Hull's failure ; surrender of Detroit. 37. Battle of Queens 
town ; massacre at Fort Dearborn. 38. Constitution and Giieniere ; 
Macedonian and Java. 39. Madison reelected. 

Second Campaign. 40. Plan of campaign. 41. Massacre of the 
River Raisin. 42. The Maumec ; Toronto. 43. Perry on Lake Erie ; 
battle of the Thames. 44. Battle of Chrysler's Field. 45. Chesapeake 
a.nd Shannon ; Lawrence's last order. 46. Attack on Norfolk. 47. Creek 
War ; mediation of Russia. 

Third Campaign. 48. delation of the belligerents. 49. The Creeks. 

50. Fort Mimms ; Tallasehatche ; Talladega ; Autosse ; Eccanachaca. 

51. Battle of the Horseshoe ; Weathersford's surrender. 52. Battle of 
Lundy's Lane. 53. Battles of Platlsburg. 54. Capture of Washington ; 
Alexandria; Baltimore. 55. Pensacola taken ; New Orleans threatened. 
56. Battles of New Orleans. 57. The Essex / its capture. 58. Hartford 
Convention. 5g. Treaty of Ghent. 60. War with Barljary. 61. Return 
of peace ; tariff question. 62. National Bank ; Liberia ; Louisiana and 
Indiana admitted. 



196 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Monroe's Administration. 63. The era of good feeling. 64. Inters 
nal improvements ; national road ; Erie Canal ; abrogation of taxes. 65. 
Suppression of pirates. 66. Jackson's invasion of Florida. 67. Florida 
acquired. 6S. The Missouri compromise. 69. Four States admitted. 70. 
The Savannah crosses the Atlantic. 



MONROE 'S ADMINISTRA TlOiW 1 97 



PART V. 
PROGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC. 

FROM THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE TO THE WAR OF 
SECESSION. 

1821-1861. 

MONROE'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION.— 1821-1825. 

1. Mr. Monroe's second term as President was a 
time of tranquillity and of general prosperity. The American 
republics which had revolted from Spain were recognized by 
the United States as independent governments. This occa- 
sioned the assertion of what has been called " The Monroe 

Doctrine,"* denouncing any further European ac- 
quisition of territory in America, or any European 

interference in American affairs. With the position thus 
assumed by the United States was closely connected 
the attitude of the Federal Government towards the 

proposed Panama Congress. f 

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS. 

2. The settlement of the Pacific coast near the 

mouth of the Columbia River was urged by General Floyd, a 
member of Congress from Virginia. He gave the country the 
name of Oregon. An agreement made with Great Britain and 
Russia threw it open to settlement, though the last disputes in 

* " The Monroe Doctrine " was announced in the President's annual message of 
2d December, 1823. It wassuggested by Canning, the British Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs, and much enlarged by John Quincy Adams, who wrote that part of the mes- 
sage. 

t " The Panama Congress" was an intended meeting of plenipotentiaries from the 
revolted Spanish republics. An invitation to send represenutives was accepted by 
the President. The Congress never assembled. 



198 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



1824. 



regard to its ownership were not closed till forty years later. 
A convention was made with Great Britain for the suppression 
of the African slave trade. Forty millions of the public debt 
were paid off during Monroe's administration. In his 
last year of office, Lafayette revisited the country, as its 
honored guest, and was received everywhere with enthusiasm. 
3. At the next election, which was decided by Congress, 
John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, was chosen Presi- 
dent. John C. Calhoun* was Vice-President. Henry 
Clay, t of Kentucky, one of the candidates for the Presidency, 
was appointed Secretary of State. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.— 
1825-1829. 

4. A serious controversy between the State of 

Georgia and the Central 
Government early engaged 
the attention of Mr. Adams. 
It grew out of the measures 
taken by Georgia to extend 
its authority over the lands of 
the Cherokees. 

5. During Adams's admin- 
istration two former Presi- 
dents — his father, John Adams, 
and Thomas Jefferson — died 
on the fiftieth anniversary of 
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. the Declaration of Indepen- 




* John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850) was born in South Carolina. His parents had 
moved from South-western Virginia. He was Vice-President in 1825, and again in 
1829. He resigned his office, and waselected United States Senator, in 1831. He ad- 
vocated extreme State Rights doctrines (Calhoun doctrine), and was the leader of 
nullification in 1832. lie was also regarded as the author of secession. 

+ Henr>' Clay (1777-1852) was a poor boy, born in Virginia. He settled at Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky, in 1797. He was the strenuous advocate of a protective tariff, and 
of what was termed " the American System," favoring home productions. 



ANDREW yACK SON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



199 



dence. Another President, Mr. Monroe, expired five years 
later, on the same day of the same month. 

6. Bitter opposition was provoked throughout the 
Southern States by an increase of duties on such imported 
articles as came into competition with home manufactures. 
South Carolina and Georgia denounced the Tariff Act as 
" unconstitutional, as well as unjust and oppressive, and con- 
sequently not obligatory on the States, if they thought proper 
to resist it." The feeling excited by this act threatened, a 
few years later, to divide the Union. 

7. Mr. Adams was not elected President a second 
time. He was succeeded by General Jackson, who received 
more than two-thirds of the electoral votes. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JACKSON.— 
1829-1837. 

8. Few of the Presidents since Washington pro- 
duced such an enduring impression on the public mind 
as Andrew Jackson. He had 
already attracted notice by 
his conduct in the Creek War, 
and in the war with Great 
Britain. Indian wars were 
renewed under his adminis- 
tration. The Sacs and Foxes 
refused to r.urrender their 
hunting grounds. Black 
Hawk, the chief of the Sacs, 

was defeated, and 

his followers were 

transplanted to the 
further side of the Mississippi. 



1832. 
2 Aug. 




ANDREW JACKSON. 



The Cherokees were an offence to the people of Georgia, 



£00 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

who sought their removal. The harassed tribes claimed the 
protection of the General Government on the faith of treaty 
stipulations. A conflict arose between the State and the Fed- 
eral authority. The Cherokees were compelled to exchange 
their home in the mountains of Georgia for a settlement on 
the rich lands west of Arkansas. 

^NULLIFICATION. 

9. The recent tariff occasioned graver troubles. 

The opposing views of the Northern and Southern States were 

ably presented, in an earnest debate in the Senate, by Daniel 

Webster,* of Massachusetts, and Robert Hayne, of South 

Carolina. Words were ineffectual. South Carolina proceeded 

to action. Forcible resistance to the exaction of customs in 

^ the ports was ordered by a convention in that 

, XT * State, and an Ordinance of Nullification f was 
10 Nov. . ' . 

passed. President Jackson issued a proclamation 

declaring that '' the laws of the United States must be ex- 
ecuted." Actual violence was prevented by the mediation of 
Virginia. A compromise, proposed to Congress by Mr. Clay, 
postponed civil war for nearly thirty years. 

THE UNITED STATES BANK. 

ID. The renewal of the charter of the United States 
Bank occasioned bitter party feeling, after the nullification 
controversy had been quieted. The renewal was opposed by 
Jackson in his first annual message. When the charter was 
J, granted by Congress, he defeated the measure by his 

veto. He subsequently removed the public moneys 
from the keeping of that powerful corporation. A disastrous 



* Daniel W^ebster (1782-1852) entered the House of Representatives in 1813. In 1828 
he became United States Senator from Massachusetts. The debate with Hayne 
occurred in January, 1830. He was Secretary of State under Presidents Harrison, 
Tyler, and Fillmore. 

t Nullification means rendering null and void, by State action, an act of the general 
Government. 



THE SEMINOLE WAR. 201 

financial crash followed some time afterwards, and may have 
^ been hastened by this transaction. The bank stag- 
gered on under a charter from the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, but failed in a few years. 

11. Jackson was reelected to the Presidency while 
the anxious contentions were in progress. Martin van Buren* 
was chosen Vice-President, in place of Calhoun, who had re- 
signed his office and become a Senator. 

12. The unsatisfactory negotiations with France^ 
in regard to the former spoliations of American commerce, 
were brought to a close by Jackson's decision. He presented 
the choice between immediate settlement or immediate war. 
The intervention of England prevented war and secured a set- 
tlement. 

THE SEMINOLE WAR. 

13. A harassing Indian war was caused by the attempt 
to remove the Indians from Florida and the South-west. The 
Seminoles refused to abandon Florida. They retired into the 
woods, jungle, and swamps, which cover millions of acres in 
the southern part of the country. It was difficult to follow 
them there, and easy for them to surprise their pursuers. 

*« , Osceo'la, one of their chiefs, was put in fetters 
and was imprisoned. He had his revenge. Rushing 
from an ambush, near Tampa Bay, he slew all but one of a 
detachment of one hundred and seventeen men. The one 
survivor was mortally wounded. General Clinch was attacked 
at the passage of the Withlacoo'chee, and forced to retire be- 
hind the stream. Osceola was seized by General Jessup and 
confined at Charleston in Fort Moultrie. There he languished 
and died. Jessup thought that the war was at an end. It 



* Martin van Buren (1782-1862), of New York, was the head of the political organ- 
ization of the Democratic party in that State known as " t»ie Albany Regency." He 
was Secretary of State in 182 j. He became President in 1837. He held no office sub- 
sequently, though he continued to be prominent in public affairs. 



202 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

went on. General Zachary Taylor* fell on the Seminoles at 
_ ^ I^ake Okeechobee and defeated them with such 
—^ * slaughter as to break their spirit. f This was the 
* most decisive action of the war, but peace was not 
declared for three years more. The Seminole war cost thirty 
or forty millions of dollars, and had been carried on with 
twenty thousand white soldiers against seventeen hundred In- 
dians and two hundred and fifty negroes. A summer's cam- 
paign subdued the Creeks, and they were removed to the West. 

14. The violence and bitterness of parties were 
greatly augmented by Jackson's administration. J; The character 
of the questions in dispute had much to do with this unhappy 
altercation. The temper, manners, and morals of Jackson him- 
self exercised a pernicijus influence. He first employed the 
public offices distinctly as a reward for party services ; and he 
acted on the maxim, since accepted in the place of political 
principle, " To the vie ors belong the spoils." § Growing de- 
pravation of political sentiment has been the result. 

PROSPERITY OF THE COUNTRY. 

15. The country continued to make surprising prog- 
ress. The population was nearly thirteen millions. The 
national debt was extinguished. Thirty-seven and a half mill- 
ions of dollars — the surplus in the treasury — was distributed 
among the States. Virginia deemed the procedure contrary to 
the Constitution, and declined her share. The Indians were 
removed from the eastern side of the Mississippi. Two new 
gtates were added to the Union — Arkansas and Michigan. 



• Genef^l Taylor (1784-1850) distinguished himself in 181-2 by his defence of Fort 
Harrison, on tlie Wabash. He served in the Black Hawk War. He was in Florida 
from 1836 to 1840. In 1845 he was sent to protect Texas against Mexico. He became 
President in 1849, and died in office within a year and a half. 

t The Seminoles had posted themselves on an island in the lake. The assailants 
waded through water breast-high. 

X On the 31st January, 1835, an attempt to assassinate General Jackson was made, on 
the portico of the Capitol, by Richard Lawrence, an insane man. 

§ This dangerous doctrine was proclaimed in the Senate of the United States by 
Mr. Marcy, of New York. 



MARTIN VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. 203 




MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN.— 
1837-1841. 

16. Martin van Buren was the first President of the 
generation born since the Revolution. Shortly after his inau- 
guration the country was overwhelmed with general distress, the 
consequences of wild spec- 
ulation in the recent pros- 
perous years. The banks 

ceased to pay 

JlJ' specie. Credit 
ID May. ^ , 

was everywhere 

denied. Failure followed 
failure in all branches of 
industry. The public rev- 
enue became insufficient for 
the public needs. Large 
foreign loans, contracted 
for the construction of rail- 
roads and other public improvements, went unpaid. Some 
States repudiated their obligations. Misery and impoverish- 
ment covered the land. 

17. The outbreak of the Canadian rebellion exposed 
the Government to new anxieties in the midst of these fmancial 
disasters. Serious results were prevented by the prudence of 
General Scott, who was appointed to the command of the 
northern frontier. 

THE MAONETIC TELEGRAPH, Etc. 

18. A patent was granted for Morse's magnetic telegraph 
in the first year of Van Buren's administration.* This was the 
beginning of those lines of telegraphic communication which 

* Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was an artist, and acquired reputation as 
a painter. He visited Europe a second time in 1829, in prosecution of his studies; 
and on his return, in 1832, invented the magnetic telegraph. The patent was issued 
in 1837. The first line of v/irc was put up between Washington and Baltimore in 
1843. The first message was sent 24th May, 1844. Morse laid the first submarine cable 
in October, 1842. 



204 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



now cover the country, and almost the world, as with a net. 
The next year the first naval exploring expedition sent out by 
the United States sailed from Norfolk, under command of 
Captain Wilkes. The sixth census showed that the population 
had increased four millions in ten years. In the same year in 
which the census was taken, the Anti-Slavery Society was 
organized. 

19. Mr. Van Buren was not reelected. He had gained 
the confidence of few. He had provoked the enmity of many. 
William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was elected President, and 
John Tyler,* of Virginia, Vice-President. They were chosen 
as Whigs. This was the first Whig victory in general politics. 
The success was gained by new devices and new forms of popu- 
lar excitement. The Republicans, who had latterly been called 
Democrats, had controlled the Government for forty years. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM HENRY HAR- 
RISON AND JOHN TYLER.— 1841-1845. 

20. President Harrison died one month after being in- 
augurated. The Vice-Pres- 
ident became President by 
the terms of the Constitu- 
tion. He soon offended 
the Whig party, by which he 
had been elected, but from 
which he differed on the 
vital questions of the bank, 
the tariff, and State rights. 



TVLER'S VKTOES. 

21. Mr. Clay devised 
an act for the establishment 
of a National Bank. It 




WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



* John Tyler (1790-1862) was the son of Judge Tyler, who preceded President Mon- 



THE ASH BURTON TREATY. 



205 



was vetoed by the President. A second bill for the same 
purpose was met by a second veto. A tariff act was also 
vetoed. The veto was employed five times in eighteen months 
by Mr. Tyler. He was thus placed in entire opposition to his 
party, and was abandoned by them. His Cabinet resigned, 
with the exception of Mr. Webster, who retained the office of 
Secretary of State, to close the important negotiations in prog- 
ress with Great Britain. 



THE ASH BURTON TREATY. 

22. The questions under discussion had often endan- 
gered the peaceful relations of the two countries. The 
gravest was the deter- 
mination of the boun- 
dary of Maine. A 
treaty was happily con- 
cluded by Mr. Webster 
and Lord Ashburton,* 
v.ho had been sent to 

Washington 

as Envoy Ex- 

traordinary 
for the purpose. This 
treaty is known as 
"The Ashburton 
Treaty." It conceded, 
in the main, the claims 
of the United States. John tyler. 



1842. 
20 Aug. 




roe as Governor of Virginia. President Tyler was Governor of Virginia, 1825-1826 ; 
and was elected, over Jolin Randolph, to the United Slates Senate in 1827. He with- 
drew from the Senate in 1836, when Virginia instructed her Senators to vote for Ben- 
ton's Expunging Resolution. He became President in April, 1841, by the death of 
President Harrison. In 1861 he was President of "The Peace Conference," and was 
Senator in the Senate of the Confederate States. 

* Lord Ashburton, an untrained diplomatist, is alleged to have been outwitted. A 
map was known to exist in the French archives, wlfh a red line, drawn by Franklin, 
marking the boundary as it was asserted by the British Government to be. 



2o6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THE DORR REBELLION. 

23. An attempt to change the constitution of Rhode 
Island led, this summer, to a small civil war, in which one 

_ life was lost. The State was still governed by the 

charter of Charles II. The riot was designated The 

Dorr Rebellion, from Thomas W. Dorr, the governor elected 

by the insurgents. A new constitution, regularly framed, went 

into operation the ensuing year. 

DISCOVERY OF THE SOUTH PASS. 

24. Capt. Fremont * discovered about this time an easy 
jj pass through the Rocky Mountains for emigrant 
J .* trains proceeding towards the Pacific coast. His 

discovery of the South Pass encouraged settle- 
ment in Oregon, and opened the way to regions of unexampled 
promise. 

ADMISSION OF TEXAS. 

25. Texas was admitted into the Union, as a State, by a 
joint resolution of Congress, three days before the end of Mr- 

J. Tyler's administration.! A treaty for its admission 

-_ * had been rejected by the Senate in the preceding 
year. The new State had thrown off the yoke of 
Mexico, and won its independence by a series of surprising 
events. The territory had been first visited by La Salle, and 
claimed for France. It was reclaimed by Spain. The United 
States demanded it as a part of Louisiana, when Florida was 
acquired, but receded from their demand. Stephen Austin, 
and other settlers from the United States, prepared to sepa- 
- , rate it from Mexico. The Mexicans undertook the 
Ma rh ^^PP^^^sion of this rebellion. They were driven 
' out of the country, and Texas declared its inde- 
pendence. Santa Anna, at the head of a Mexican army,! took 

* For a notice of Fremont, see note to § 51, p. 219. 

t The resolution was passed, to take the matter out of the hands of the Senate. It 
authorized the creation, out of the territory of Texas, of " new States, of convenient 
size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to the said Stale of Texas." * ♦ 

X General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1798-1876) promoted the downfall of the 



ADMISSION OF TEXAS. 



207 



Fort Alamo, and slew the garrison in tlic attack, or slaugh- 
tered them after the surrender. He defeated Colonel Fannin 
at Goliad, captured more than six hundred men, 
and murdered all but one. He was, however, him- 
self defeated, and taken prisoner by General Hous- 
ton,* at San Jacinto. Soon after this victory Texas was 



1836. 
21 April. 







RUINS OF J HE ALAMO. 



recognized as an independent State by France, Great Britain, 



Emperor Iturbide, and was made commander-in-chief. In 1833 he became Presi- 
dent of Mexico. He lost a leg in the French bombardment of Vera Cruz, in 1838. He 
was banished for ten years, buL was recalled in 1846, to resist the American invasion. 
After his successive defeats he resigned the Presidency. Maximilian made him 
Grand Marshal of the Empire. 

* General Samuel Houston (1793-1863) was born near Lexington, Virginia. In 1807 
his widowed mother, with her nine children, removed to Tennessee. In 1808 Samuel 
ran away, crossed the Tennessee, and lived with the Indians for three years. He was 
adopted by one of their principal chiefs, Oolooteka. In 1813 he served as a private 
under General Jackson, and was thrice wounded— it was supposed mortally. He was 
chosen Governor of Tennessee in 1827. Soon after his marriage, in 1829, he aban- 
doned wife and home, and was formally made a Cherokee by the old chief Ooloo- 
teka. He removed to Texas about 1833. In 1835 he was appointed commander-in- 
chief of the army. He was severely wounded in the battle of San Jacinto. In Sep- 
tember he war, '^Incted President of Texas ; again in 1841 ; and Governor of the State 
In 1859. He was opposed to secession, and resigned the Governorship rather than 
take the oath of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy. 



2o8 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and the United States. A lone star was adopted as its em- 
blem, and was placed upon its banners. 

26. A year before the close of Mr. Tyler's administration, 
two members of tlie Cabinet, and other persons of distinction 

were killed by the bursting of a great gun, The 

o t- i_ Peacemaker, on board the Princeion. A brill- 
28 Feb. . . , 1 • 1. • 

lant company were on the vessel, havmg been m- 

vited to witness the performance of this novel cannon. The 
President narrowly escaped being one of the victims. 

27. The Texan question determined the election of a 
President to succeed Tyler. James K, Polk,* of Tennessee, 
who favored the acquisition of Texas, was elected over Henry 
Clay, the candidate of the Whigs, who was an earnest oppo- 
nent of its reception. Florida also became a State during Mr. 
Tyler's term, and the admission of Iowa was provided for. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK.-1845-1849. 

28. Mexico had thrice declared that she would regard 

the annexation of Texas as a 
cause of war. President 
Polk's administration, ac- 
cordingly, began with the 
prospect, and almost the cer- 
tainty, of hostilities. Texas 
accepted the terms of ad- 
mission proposed, and called 
for protection. General 
Zachary Taylor was or- 
dered to guard the frontier 
of the new State. A naval 
JAMES K POLK. squadroH was sent to Vera 




* James Knox Polk (1795- 1849) was born in North Carolina. He was Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, in Congress, in 1835. In 1839 he became Governor of 
Tennessee ; in 1845 President of the United States. He died at the close of the 
summer following the completion of his term of office. 



POLK 'S ADMINISTRA TION. 209 

Cruz {varah krooz)^ and another to the Pacific, with orders lo 
seize California * on the outbreak of hostilities. Proposals 
were, at the same time, made to Mexico for the purchase of 
California, and of the boundary of the Rio Grande. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

29. Next spring General Taylor was directed to ad- 
vance to the Rio Grande. He encamped on the edge of 
the desert tract before Matamoras. Mexico declared war. A 
Mexican army crossed the river. It was met and defeated by 
General Taylor at Palo Alto, with little more than a third of 
the numbers opposed to him. The Mexicans received heavy 
reinforcements. They were routed again at Resaca de la 
Palma (ra'sahrkah da lah pal'inah). Taylor occupied Mata- 
moras, and awaited the arrival of the volunteers that had been 
called for. 

THE OREGON TREATY. 

30. Important transactions took place while Taylor 
lay idle at Matamoras. Oregon had been held by the United 
States and Great Britain, as joint occupants. Congress resolved 

g , to terminate this occupancy, and gave notice of its 
^ - intention. A treaty was signed at Washington, 

* settling the disputed claim to the territory. A 
cause of serious contention and danger was thus removed. 

SEIZURE OF CALIFORNIA. 

31. The designs of the United States upon Califor- 
nia were accomplished sooner than the Government expected, 
and by other means. Colonel Fremont was in the country, 
engaged in an exploring expedition. He was threatened by 



♦ California is said to have been so named by Cortez, from the queen of the Ama 
rons, Califa, in the Spanish romance of Esplandian, mentioned in Don Quixote. 
Texas possibly derived its designation from Tiquas, or Latekas. an Indian tribe. 



no 



ell STORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 




THE GOLDEN GATE AS SEEN FROM SAN FRANCISCO. 

the Mexicans. The Americans on the Pacific coast declared 

^ . their independence. Monterey (inoit'a-rd)^ San 

J , ' Francisco, and Los Angeles {/oz anje-Zes), were 

taken, and the United States flag was raised as soon 

as official intelligence of the war was received. 



RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES. 

32. General Taylor marched upon Monterey * when 
the volunteers had joined him. He stormed and took the 
town, after a stubborn fight. An armistice for eight weeks was 
concluded, but it was disallowed by the Government of the 
United States. A new danger was approaching. Santa Anna 
had been permitted to return from Havana, where he was 
living in exile. He became President of Mexico, gathered a 
formidable army, and marched against the invaders at Mon- 
terey. 

33. General Worth was stationed at Saltillo, in advance of 
that place. He was joined by General Wool, and afterwards 
by General Taylor, whose force had been greatly weakened by 
drafts from it for the army of General Scott. Taylor took up 

* There were two Montereys in Mexico ; one in the north-east, one on the Pacific. 



RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES. 21I 

his position at Buena Vista (bwanah vees'tah), with only five 
thousand men. Santa Anna arrived with more than twice that 
number.* The Mexican summons to surrender was quietly 

refused. Next morning the battle began. It was 
^ -c^i^ kept up during the day. It had been gallantly 

maintained by Taylor's little army, and seemed to 
be lost v/hen night arrested the combat. Taylor occupied the 
field, expecting the renewal of the battle with returning light. f 
The Mexicans had withdrawn in the darkness, to meet greater 
perils in the South. 

34. The return of Santa Anna to Mexico, and his 
energetic conduct, rendered a change in the line of operations 
expedient. He had deceived the Government of the United 
States, which had accorded him a passage through the fleet. 
Instead of promoting the restoration of peace, he inspired the 
Mexicans with increased determination. It was resolved to 
strike at the heart of the Mexican Republic. General 
Scott was placed in command of the main army, with orders 
to advance from the coast to the city of Mexico. This pur- 
pose left General Taylor and his troops in idleness. The 
border territory was, however, already occupied by the Amer- 
icans. 

VERA CRUZ AND CERRO GORDO. 

35. Scott's army was conveyed to Vera Cruz by sea. 
That strongly fortified city was attacked from the water and 

^ from the land, and soon capitulated. After a fort- 

M h ^^g^"^^'^ preparation, Scott advanced into the inte- 
rior. At the foot of the mountains he found the 
heights above fortified and occupied by Santa Anna, who had 
got back from Buena Vista by a rapid march. The works at 



♦The number is uncertain. It is usually put at over twenty thousand, on the 
strength of Santa Anna's declaration, when he summoned Taylor to surrender. 

t To the last charge, directed by Taylor, belongs the once famous order, " Give them 
a little more grape, Capt. Bra:;g." There is no foundation for the story. 



212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

Cerro Gordo were turned by a road secretly constructed by 

J. . .. Capt. Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant Beauregard* 

^ * {bore-gard). The ridges were scaled, the intrench- 

ments stormed, the Mexicans routed, and pursued almost to 

Jalapa (Jiah-laHpah). Next day Jalapa was entered. 

HALT AT PUEBLA. 

36. Three days after the occupation of Jalapa the fortress 
of Perote {pa-rota)^ on the summit of the eastern Cordillera,! 
was captured; with its guns and ammunition. In three weeks 
more the great and populous city of Puebla {pweb'la/i) was 
taken. Here General Scott waited for reinforcements, as his 
numbers had fallen to four or five thousand men. During this 
interval of rest, Nicholas P. Trist, the special commissioner of 
the United States, vainly invited the Mexicans to make peace. 

RENEWAL OF THE ADVANCE. 

37. When his reinforcements came, General Scott 
marched, by the National Road, to the pass of the Rio Frio 

. {?reo frce'6), or Cold River, in the main chain of the 

' Rocky Mountains. From the summit the city of Mexico 

was visible at the distance of forty miles. All the approaches 
along the road were fortified, and held by the Mexicans in 
force. Scott turned to the left, cut a road round the southern 
shore of Lake Chalco, and planted himself on the highway 
from Acapulco and the Pacific, nine miles from the city. 

CONTRERAS AND CHURUBUSCO. 

38. Scott's position was extremely hazardous. His 

army was small. He was in the heart of the enemy's country. 
His communications were long and exposed to interruption. 
The interval between him and the city of Mexico was rugged, 



* These officers will be heard of again in other scenes. 

t Cordillera, a chain, is the designation applied to the several ranges of the Rocky 
Mountains in North Amer.ca, and cf the Andes in South America. 



OCCUPATION OF MEXICO. 



213 



difficult, and easily defended. The enemy before him was 
greatly superior in numbers, and was supported by a city vast 
in extent, in resources, and in population. Skill and daring 
were alike required. In front were the fortified heights of Con- 
treras (con-traras)^ the pass of San Antonio, and the strong 
fortifications of Churubusco {choo-roo-boos ko). Two midnight 
attacks were made on Contreras. On the second, 
^'' 'it was forced "in seventeen minutes," just as day 
^° dawned. The pass of San Antonio was carried, and 
Churubusco was stormed. Five victories were won on this day. 
Scott had less than ten thousand men; the Mexicans, thirty-two 
thousand. Scott, who was vainglorious by disposition, might 
well speak in his report of ** this glorious army, which has now 
overcome all difficulties — distance, climate, ground, fortifica- 
tions, numbers." Proposals of peace were again made and an 
armistice granted. The negotiations again failed. 

OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF MEXICO. 

39. The failure was followed by the resumption of 
hostilities. The approaches to the city were still com- 
manded by the castle of Chapultepec {chah-pool'ta-pek). It 
stood on the summit of a bluff, one hundred and fifty feet high, 
within cannon-shot of the archbishop's palace, where Scott 
had his head-quarters. It could be assailed only on one slope, 
and was defended on that side by stone buildings and the in- 
trenchments of Molino del Rey (1710-leeiio del ra). Santa 
Anna held these lines with fourteen thousand men ; they 
were taken by Worth with thirty-two hundred. Chapultepec 
was next stormed. Its garrison was driven out and pushed 
jj^ over its rugged slopes. Next morning General 

^' ^ ^ * Scott took possession of the city, and the flag 
of the United States was raised over the national palace. 
The war was ended, though some later actions occurred and 
Santa Anna experienced a last defeat before hostilities entirely 
ceased. 



214 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO. 

40. An irregular treaty was signed by Mr. Trist, at 
Guadalupe Hidalgo {^gwah-dah-loo'pa ee-dal'go). It was rati- 

« « fied by the Senate of the United States, after much 
P * discussion. Upper California, New Mexico, and 
the boundary of the Rio Grande for Texas, were 
gained. It was stipulated that Mexico should receive $18,- 
250,000 as purchase money. The war had cost between 
$150,000,000 and $200,000,000, and upwards of twenty thou- 
sand lives. It had added more than a third to the previous 
territory of the United States. 

CALIFORNIA GOLD. 

41. The existence of gold in the sands and rocks of Cali- 
fornia had long been known,* though known only to a few. A 

J. ^ fortnight before the treaty with Mexico was signed, 
- * gold was accidentally discovered near the Sacra- 
^ * mento River. The news flew abroad into all lands. 

Clouds of adventurers, of every color and from every land, 
flocked to the golden shores. The treasures of the world have 
been enormously increased by this and later discoveries of the 
precious metals. Trade, industry, finance, morals, and all 
social relations have been still more disturbed by their easy 
acquisition, and by the rapid enlargement of public wealth and 
of private fortunes. In the United States, party discords were 
grievously inflamed by the new object of contention. 

THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

42. The acquisition of California revived, with greater 
virulence, the question involved in the Missouri compromise, 
and the opposition between the Northern and Southern States. 
Its veins of gold, and other surprising attractions, rendered the 

* Gold was discovered at Capt. Suter's mill. Polk says in his message, 15th Decem- 
ber, 1848, " It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a considerable 
extent." 



TA YL OR' S A DMINIS 7 KA TION. 2 1 5 

new domain a subject of acrimonious strife between the sec- 
tions. A provison to exclude slavery from all new territory, 
called the Wilmot proviso, had been proposed in Congress 
two years before, but had been rejected. It indicated the pur- 
poses of a rapidly growing party, which assumed the name oi 
the " Free-Soil Party." * 

43. The Irish famine occurred while Polk was President. 
Large donations of food and other supplies were made by pub- 
lic and private charity for the relief of the starving people of 
Ireland. Two new States, Iowa and Wisconsin, were added 
to the Union, and a territorial government was given to 
Oregon. 

44. Polk was not renominated to the Presidency, nor was 
Henry Clay. General Zachary Taylor was the candidate 
of the Whigs, with Millard Fillmore \ as Vice-President. They 
were elected. The new party, the Free-Soilers, assembled at 
Buffalo, and proposed their own nominees. Thus began the 
final strife between the abolitionists, of various shades of opin- 
ion, and the slave-owners, supported by those who still ad- 
hered to the original compromises of the Constitution. 



ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL ZACHARY TAY- 
LOR.— 1849-1850. 

45. California presented a tempting battle-field for 



* The Free-Soil party laid down these principles : " i. That it was the duty of the 
general Government to abolish slavery wherever it could be done in a constitutional 
manner. 2. That the States within which slavery existed had the sole right to inter- 
fere with it. 3. That Congress can alone prevent the existence of slavery in the Ter- 
ritories. By the first of these principles, it was the duty of Congress to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia; second, to leave its regulation to the States where 
it existed \ and third, to abolish it in territory now free." 

t Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), of New York, was the son of poor parents, and 
never saw a grammar or a geography before he was eighteen years of age. He 
presided over the Senate with great impartiality during the angry discussion of " the 
Omnibus Bill." He was nominated for the Presidency in 1856, by the American, or 
" Know-Nothing" party, but received only the electoral vote of Maryland. 



2l6 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



political contention. Its gold mines were productive beyond all 
expectation. They drew multitudes from all quarters, and 
caused a sudden display of feverish activity along the Pacific 

shore. The recent acquisi- 
tion soon sought admission 
into the Union. After vio- 
lent debates, it was received 
as a State, from which slav- 
ery was excluded. Utah 
and New Mexico were or- 
ganized as territories. Ten 
millions of dollars were 
awarded to Texas for the 
surrender of its claims in 
New Mexico. An act was 
passed for the recovery of 
fugitive slaves, and the slave trade was abolished in the 
District of Columbia. These measures constituted " Clay's 
compromise of 1850." * Mr. Fillmore said of them : " They 
are regarded by me as a settlement in principle and substance 
— a final settlement — of the dangerous and exciting subjects 
which they embrace." They were no settlement, but the 
seeds of fiercer discords. 




ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF MILLARD FILLMORE.- 
1850-1853. 

46. General Taylor died during these discussions. 

The Vice-President became President. Fillmore's efforts to 

_g- enforce the late "compromise measures " v/ere not 

^ T successful. A Southern convention, composed of 

delegates from seven States, met at Nashville, to 

consider the dangers with which the institution of slavery 

* These several acts were at first included in one bill, nicknamed " the Omnibus 
Bill." They were founded upon resolutions introduced by Mr. Clay, 29th Jan., 1 85a 



FILLMORE 'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



217 



was threatened, and to decide upon the remedy. Peaceable 
secession was proposed. No conclusion was reached. 

47. Cuba was twice invaded by adventurers under 
General Lopez. He was captured and executed. Colonel 
Crittenden and his com- 



1851. 
1853. 
1854. 

tempted 



panions were 
shot. William 
Walker, of 
Louisiana, at- 
the conquest 
of Lower California and 
Sonora, and, the next 
year, the seizure of Nic- 
aragua. Efforts were 
made to ascertain the 
fate of Sir John Frank- 
lin, a daring 
English naviga- 
tor, who had never re- 



1853. 




MILLARD 

turned from an arctic exploration undertaken eighteen years 
before. Dr. Kane was the most noted leader in these enter- 
prises. The country was singularly prosperous. The public 
revenue exceeded the expenditures by nearly $18,000,000 ; 
and the treasury contained more than $32,000,000 surplus. 
The population was over twenty-three millions. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL FRANKLIN 
PIERCE.— 1853-1857. 

48. General Franklin Pierce succeeded Fillmore in 

the Presidency. The Whigs had nominated General Winfield 
Scott. Pierce was soon engaged in difficult negotiations with 
foreign powers — with Mexico, with Austria, with Great Britain, 
and with Spain. "The Gadsden Treaty " settled the Mexican 

ID 



2l8 



HISTOID Y OF THE U XI TED STATES. 



boundary for an additional payment of $10,000,000. 

Treatv of Washin^rton " 



1854. 
23 Mar. 




FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



be paid by American vessels." 



'The 
a re- 
ciprocal treaty — closed the dif- 
ferences with Great Britain. 
" The Treaty of Ken-a-gaw a" 
opened Japanese 
harbors to Ameri- 
can trade, and ini- 
tiated the marvellous develop- 
ment of current civilization in 
Japan. Denmark was notified 
that " the Sound Dues " — a 
toll levied on ships entering 
the Baltic — would no longer 



"BLEEDING KANSAS." 

49. Domestic affairs were more important than for- 
eign transactions at this time. The slavery question en- 
grossed the attention of all parties. The Missouri compromise 
was abrogated by the bill of Senator Douglas \ for the organ- 
ization of the Kansas and Nebraska territories. Kansas lay 
in the same latitude with Missouri. The contending factions 
of the North and South hastened to seize it. A local civil 
war ensued. " Emigrant Aid Societies " in the Northern 
States sent Free-Soil " squatters " to engage in the war, and 
provided them with arms. " Blue Lodges " in Missouri, 
*■ Jayhawkers " along the border, and other armed bodies, were 
encouraged by the South. Skirmishes and raids, outrages 
and murders, were frequent. John Brown, of Os-sa-wat'o-mie, 



"■" This notification led to the negotiations resulting in the treaty of r4th March, 1S57, 
which put an end to the exaction of these duties. The treaty was niade between 
Denmark and the commercial States of Europe, by which a large sum of money was 
paid in s;itisfaction of all such demands in future. 

t Stephen Arnold Douglas (,iSi.;-iS6i) was born in Vermont, and settled in Illinois. 
At twenty-two years of age he was Attorney-General of the State. He was nomi- 
rated for the Presidency in 1S60. 



PIERCE'S A DM IN IS TRA TION, 2 1 9 

rendered himself very prominent by his daring, energy, and 
fanatical determination. 

50. The war of the settlers produced anarchy in 

Kansas, and alarm throughout the country. The territorial 
Legislature upheld slavery. The Free-Soil Convention at To- 
peka framed a constitution excluding it. Governor after gov- 
ernor tried vainly to establish peace and order. 

-t'* a Free-Soil Legislature, assembled at Topeka, 
'7 Tan ... 

* was driven out of their legislative hall by Fed- 
eral troops. 

51. " Bleeding Kansas " and " Kansas troubles " became 
party cries in the next election for President. The Free-Soil- 
ers, or Republicans, nominated John C. Fremont * as their 
candidate. The Whigs united with the new faction of the 
"Know-Nothings,"tor Native Americans, and put forward Mil- 
lard Fillmore. The Democrats supported James Buchanan X 
and John C. Breckinridge,§ who were elected as President and 
Vice-President respectively. 



♦General John Charles Fremont (1813- ) gained much distinction by his explora- 
tions along the line of the Rocky Mountains, and beyond them, from 18^2 onwards. 
He discovered the South Pass. His concern in the conquest of California has been 
noticed. He was a Major-General on the Union side in the war of secession. He 
was appointed Governor of Arizona Territory in 1878. 

t " The Know Nothings," or Native Americans, constituted a political party bound 
together by secret signs and passwords. They assembled in secret meetings. They 
were popularly designated " Know-Nothings," because they were directed to reply 
to all inquiries by the uninitiated, that they " knew nothing " of the order. The 
object of the party, from which it derived the name of Native Americans, was to 
withhold the elective franchise from foreigners settled in the United States till after 
a long term of probation. They arose as a distinct political party in 1853. 

X James Buchanan (1791-1868), of Pennsylvania, had been so long engaged in pub- 
lic life (since i8i4Hhat he was ridiculed as "the old functionary "—a designation 
which he had used in referring to himself. 

§ John Cabell Breckinridge (1821-187-,), of Kentucky, was the grandson of John 
Breckinridge, former Senator and Attorney-General of the United States. He was 
nominated for the Presidency in i860. He resigned his seat in the Senate, and joined 
the Southern Confederacy, becoming a Major-General in its service. He was Secre- 
tary of War at the lime of its overthrow. 



220 



HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED ST A TES. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN.— 
1857-1861. 

52. Mr. Buchanan entered upon his high office with 

the earnest desire of destroy- 
ing sectional parties, and with 
" the hope that the long agi- 
tation of the slavery question 
was approaching its end." 
Two days after his inaugu- 
ration a fresh impulse was 
given to the opponents of 
slavery. The Supreme Court 
decided, in " the Dred Scott 
case," that a negro was not 
a citizen, and that the Mis- 
souri comprom.ise did not ac- 
jAMES BUCHANAN. cord with the Constitution.* 




KANSAS. 

53. Kansas necessarily attracted the close attention 

of both the Government and the people. The Topeka Consti- 
tution was rejected by Congress on the score of illegality. The 
Pro-Slavery Constitution adopted at Lecompton was repu- 
diated by the people. A constitution framed by a convention 
held at Wyandot excluded slavery. Under it Kansas was 
received as a State, on the eve of the great civil war. 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 

54. Utah, a desolate wilderness beyond the Rocky Moun= 



* " The Dred Scott case " was an action instituted for the recovery of the freedom 
of himself and family, by Dred Scott, a negro slave, who had been carried to Illinois 
by his owner in 1834. The case was carried by appeal to the Supreme Court. Chief 
Justice Taney delivered the opinion of the majority of the court, dismissing the 
case for want of jurisdiction, on the ground that negroes were not citizens, and 
"had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." 



UTAH AND THE MORMONS, 22 1 

tains, had been occupied by the Mormons. They were 
a strange people, with a strange creed and strange usages, who 
slighted the authority of the United States Governntent, under 
which they lived. The sect had arisen in New York in 1823, 
They had received their doctrine from their prophet, Joe 
Smith, who found a new revelation in certain "golden plates " 
— the Book of Mormon — which he discovered, dug up out of 
the ground, and interpreted. From New York they wandered 
to Missouri. They were expelled from the latter State. Their 
new settlement at Nauvoo, in Illinois, was attacked by Gov- 
-. ernor Ford and the militia. Joe Smith and his 

_ brother were murdered by the mob in the jail where 

they were confined. Brigham Young * became 
the Mormon leader. He guided his fellow-believers, with 
their families and flocks, by untrodden ways, across the desert 
and the Rocky Mountains, and settled them as a lone and 
exclusive community in the heart of the remote wilderness 
within the confines of Mexico.f Here they resisted the juris- 
j. diction of the United States, and defied the officers 
of the Government. General A. S. Johnston | was 
sent with a military force to secure obedience. The Mor- 
mons made a doubtful submission when the army approached 
Salt Lake City, after many difficulties and delays. 

JOHN BRO^WN'S ATTACK ON HARPER'S FERRY. 

55. A strange event quickened and maddened the 



* Brigham Young (1801-1877) and Joseph Smith (1805-1844) were both born in Ver- 
mont. Young joined the Mormons in 1832, and was one of the twelve apostles in 
1835. The migration to the Salt Lake Valley was made in 1846. A constitution for 
a State, to be named Deseret, was framed in 1849, but rejected by Congress. In 1852, 
Young proclaimed polygamy, announcing it as a revelation to Joe Smith, by whose 
family it was declared a forgery. Hence the Mormons arc split into the Brigham- 
ites and Josephites. 

t Utah was a part of the territory afterwards acquired from Mexico as one of the 
results of the Mexican war. 

X General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-1862) served in the Black Hawk war. and in 
1836 entered the Texan army as a private. His appointment as commander-in-chief 
of that army led to a duel with his predecessor. General Felix Houston, in which he 
was severely wounded. When the war of secession broke out, he joined the Southern 
Confederacy, and was appointed to the full rank of General. 



222 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

angry conflict between the North and the South. John 
Brown, of Ossawatomie, already notorious in the Kansas dis- 
« turbances, with twenty-one followers seized by 

, n \ ^^S^^ ^^ United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, 
on the northern border of Virginia. Wise, the 
Governor, called out a very large force of volunteers and mili- 
tia. Before they could reach the scene, Brown and his com- 
panions were captured by Colonel Robert E. Lee and a body 
of United States marines. Brown's design was to kindle in- 
surrection among the slaves of the South. He brought pike- 
heads and other weapons to arm them. He was desperately 
wounded before he was captured. Twelve others, including 
one of his sons, were slain. The surviving prisoners were 
tried, condemned, and hanged. 

56. The Southern States had reason to be alarmed, 
for Brown's designs, and Brown himself, had been encouraged 
by the earnest sympathies of prominent politicians and of 
large numbers at the North. The Abolition and Free-Soil 
parties were, about this time, further exasperated by local at- 
tempts to revive the slave trade.* 

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, I860. 

57. The slavery question became almost the sole 
issue regarded in the next Presidential election. Party re- 
lations were rendered uncertain by it, and old parties crumbled 
away beneath it. The Democrats separated into two wings, 
notwithstanding the dangers confronting the country. Each 
wing presented its own candidate. The two Democratic rivals 
were John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Stephen A. Doug- 
las, of Illinois. The Union Whigs advocated the election of 
John Bell, of Tennessee. The Republicans, whose numbers 
were swelled by opponents of slavery from every quarter, suc- 



* The yacht Wanderer landed more than three hundred Africans, from Africa, 
near Brunswick, Georgia. 28th November, 1858. Other cargoes of negro slaves were 
run in at other points on the southern coast. 



SECESSION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.. 223 

ceeded in electing Abraham Lincoln,* of Illinois. Lincoln 
had a decided majority of the electoral vote, though little 
more than a third of the votes of the people. 

58. The election of Mr. Lincoln was the triumph of 
the North, and of Northern sentiment on the subject of 
slavery. All of his electoral votes were from Northern States. 
The danger of a geographical division of parties, so sagacious- 
ly apprehended by Washington, had come upon the country. 
The necessity of withdrawing from the Union and of prepar- 
ing for a separate existence, had been anxiously discussed at 
the South. President Buchanan, during his last months of 
office, was perplexed, uncertain, and helpless. His Cabinet 
fell away from him. He was unable to control the policy of 
his Government. All that he did was to declare that neither 
President nor Congress had the right to coerce a State. 

SECESSION OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

59. South Carolina took the first decisive action. 

It passed an ordinance of secession, and " solemnly declared 
^, that the union heretofore existing between this 

r^ * State and the other States of North America is 
20 Dec. 

dissolved." In little more than a month the ex- 
ample was followed by six other States — Mississippi, Florida, 
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Their representa- 
tives and senators withdrew from Congress on the secession of 
their respective States. Their withdrawal weakened the re- 
sistance to the party which was now dominant. 

THE PEACE CONFERENCE. 

60. The State of Virginia made the last effort to 
avert civil war. A Peace Conference was proposed. Twenty- 
one States were represented at Washington, when it assem- 

* Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was taken by his father from Kentucky to Illinois 
when only seven years of age. At nineteen he went as a hand on a flat-boat to New- 
Orleans. At twenty-one he helped his father to clear, fence, and cultivate a crop at 
the new home to which the family had removed. He was President from 1861 tiU 
his assassination. 



224 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATSE. 



bled. 



1861. 

4 Feb 



Ex-President Tyler was chosen to preside over its 
deliberations. Its suggestions were rejected by 
Congress, as was also the Crittenden compromise 
which had been previously introduced.* 



THE FIRST HOSTILE ACT. 



61. The civil war had, indeed, already begun. Fori 
Moultrie, in Charleston harbor, was occupied by Major An- 
derson and a small garrison. On the night after Christmas he 
abandoned it, and removed to Fort Sumter, which was more 
capable of defence. This movement was sustained by the 
President. Fort Moultrie was promptly seized by the South 
Carolina forces, and preparations were made for the reduction 
of Fort Sumter. The garrison was weak; the supplies were 
scanty. An attempt to increase its resources failed. 

THE SOUTHERN CONFEDEFIACY. 

62. The Confederate Congress met at Montgom- 
ery, the capital of Alaba- 
ma, on the same day on 
which the Peace Conference 
assembled in Washington. 
The constitution adopted 
for the new confederation 
differed only in a few, but 
important, respects from 
that of the United States. 
Colonel Jefferson Davis,t 
late Senator from Missis- 
sippi, was elected Provision- 
al President. Mr. Alex- 
ander H. Stephens, of 
Georgia, who had been 




JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



* " The Crittenden compromise" was presented i£th December, i85d, and rejected 
3d March, i83i. John Jay Crittenden (1785-1863), its author, was from Kentucky, 
and had been Senator from that State almost continuously since 1835. 

t Jefferson Davis (1808- ), born in Kentucky, but a citizen of Mississippi, ac- 



LINCOLN'S IN A UGURA TION. 225 

earnestly opposed to secession, was elected Vice-President.* 
General Beauregard was appointed General of the Provi- 
sional Army. 

MR. LINCOLN'S INAUGURATION. 

63. Mr. Lincoln left his home in Illinois, as Buchan- 
an's term of office was drawing to a close. He moved slowly 
towards Washington. Rumors of intended assassination in- 
duced him to alter his proposed route to the Capitol. He left 
Harrisburg by night, and in disguise. He reached the seat of 
Government in safety. His inauguration was protected from 
all hazard of disturbance by the military arrangements of 
General Scott. 

OTHER MATTERS OF NOTE. 

64. An expedition was sent to Paraguay to obtain satisfac- 
tion for injuries committed. It was completely successful. 
General Scott visited Oregon to arrange a dispute with the 
British authorities of Vancouver's Island, in regard to the 
straits between that island and the mainland. The contro- 
versy was allayed for a time. 

The first year of Buchanan's administration was marked by 
financial disaster, and the general suspension of specie pay- 
ments. The disturbance scarcely extended south of the Poto- 
mac, and was speedily redressed by the magnitude of the cot- 
ton crop, which, in i860, reached five million three hundred 
and eighty-seven thousand and fifty-two bales. 

Three new States were added to the Union during these 
four years — Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas. The census 
taken in i860 showed the number of the population to be 



quired distinction in the Mexican war. He served under his father-in-law, General 
Zachary Taylor. He was seriously wounded at Buena Vista. He was Secretaiy of 
War under President Polk. 

* Alexander Hamilton Stephens (i8i2-i883),of Georgia, a member of the Lower 
House of Congress from 1843, except during the Southern Confederacy and the 
period of reconstruction, to Nov., 1882, when be became Governor of Georgia. 



226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

thirty-one million four hundred and forty-five thousand. There 
were little more than five million of white inhabitants in the 
States that seceded, while the number of the colored popula- 
tion exceeded four million.* 



* The whole number of Africans imported, at all times, into the United Stales, was 
from three hundred and seventy-five thousand to four hundred thousand. From 
these all the rest descended. 



SUMMAR V FOR RE VIE W, 227 

SUMMARY OF TOPICS.^PART V. 

PROGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Monroe's Second Administration, i. Prosperity ; the Monroe doc- 
trine. 2. Settlement of Oregon ; decrease of the national debt ; Lafa- 
yette's visit. 3. Result of Presidential election. 

Administration of John Quincy Adams. 4. The Georgia contro- 
versy. 5. Death of John Adams, Jefferson, Monroe. 6. Tariff of 1828. 
7. Adams not reelected. 

Andrew Jackson's Administration. 8. Influence of Jackson's ad- 
mmistration ; Jackson's previous career ; Black Hawk war ; the Chero- 
kees. 9. The tariff ; nullification; Clay's compromise. 10. The United 
States Bank ; removal of the deposits ; failure of the bank. 11. Jackson 
reelected ; Martin van Buren. 12. Controversy with France. 13. The 
Seminole War ; Osceola ; Withlacoochee ; Okeechobee ; cost of the war ; 
the Creeks. 14. Efi"ect produced on the temper of parties. 15. Pros- 
perity ; extinction of the debt ; distribution of the surplus in the Treas- 
ury. 

Van Buren's Administration. 16. Van Buren marks the second 
generation; the great financial crash. 17. Canadian rebellion. 18. Mag- 
netic telegraph ; exploring expedition ; increase of population ; Anti- 
Slavery Society. 19. Whig triumph ; character of the canvass. 

Administrations of Harrison and Tyler. 20. Death of President 
Harrison ; Tyler President ; offends the Whigs. 21. Tyler's vetoes ; the 
Cabinet resigns 22. The Ashburton Treaty. 23, The Dorr Rebellion. 
24. The South Pass. 25. Admission of Texas ; Fort Alamo ; San Jacinto ; 
the Lone Star. 26. Bursting of the Peacemaker. 27. The Presidential 
election ; Florida admitted. 

Polk's Administration. 28. Prospect before it ; preparations for 
war. 29. Taylor's advance ; Palo Alto ; Resaca de la Palma. 30. The Ore- 
gon Treaty. 31. Conquest of California 32. Taylor storms Monterey ; 
Santa Anna's return. 33. Buena Vista ; Mexican retreat. 34. Plan of 
the campaign changed. 35. Vera Cruz ; Cerro Gordo. 36. Puebla ; 
long halt. 37. Scott's advance. 38. Perilous position of Scott ; Contre- 
ras ; Churubusco ; proposals of peace. 39. Chapultepec ; Molino del 
Key ; battle of Chapultepec ; city of Mexico occupied. 40. Treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo ; increase of territory. 41. California gold ; effect on 
politics. 42. " Wilmot Proviso " ; " Free-Soil Party." 43. Irish famine ; 
Iowa and Wisconsin admitted ; Oregon organized. 44. The Presidential 
election ; the Free-Soilers ; the Abolition controversy. 

Taylor's Administration. 45. California, its mines, population, ad- 



2 28 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

mission ; Utah and New Mexico ; Texas ; fugitive slave lavi^ ; Clay's com- 
promise. 

Fillmore's Administration. 46. Death of General Taylor ; Fill 
more's policy ; Southern convention. 47. Invasion of Cuba ; of Lowei 
California and Sonora ; of Nicaragua ; search for Sir John Franklin ; ex- 
penditure ; population. 

Pierce's Administration. 48. Pierce's opponent ; diplomatic pro- 
ceedings ; Gadsden Treaty ; Treaty of Washington ; treaty with Japan ; 
Danish Sound dues. 49. Missouri compromise abrogated ; Kansas causes 
civil discord ; " Aid Societies " ; " Blue Lodges " ; " Jayhawkers " ; John 
Brown. 50. Topeka Convention ; Topeka Legislature expelled. 51. 
Presidential election ; ** Know-Nothings." 

Buchanan's Administration. 52. Buchanan's desire ; Dred Scott 
decision. 53. Topeka Constitution rejected ; Lecompton Constitution ; 
Wyandot Constitution. 54. Utah; the Mormons; their wanderings; 
murder of Joe Smith ; Mormons remove to Utah ; General Johnston's ex- 
pedition. 55, John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry ; Brown captured 
and hanged. 56. Brown's attempt alarms the Southern States ; the 
Abolition and Free-Soil parties enraged. 57. Presidential ele :tion ; break- 
ing up of parties ; Abraham Lincoln elected. 58. Consequences of Lin- 
coln's election ; Buchanan's difificulties. 59. Secession of South Carolina; 
other States secede ; withdrawal from Congress. 60. " The Peace Confer- 
ence." 61 The first step in the war ; Major Anderson and Fort Sumter. 
62. Confederate Congress ; Jefferson Davis President ; Alexander Ste- 
phens Vice-President ; Beauregard General. 63. Lincoln inaugurated. 
64. Paraguay expedition ; Scott's visit to Oregon ; financial distress ; 
Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas admitted ; the population ; population of 
Seceding States. 




Jingraved for Jj 




'llitturyufthe Vniltd Stuit*. 



LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRA TION. 



229 



PART VI. 

WAR OF SECESSION.— RECON- 
STRUCTION AND GROWTH. 



1861-1881. 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.-^ 
1861-1865. 

The First Year of the War, 1861. 

I. The important period subsequent to the inauguration of 
President Lincoln is so recent, and so full of contending pas- 
sions and prejudices, that it can be treated only lightly and 
with hesitation. The main 
facts may be given, but 
their details and circum- 
stances are still disputed. 
Only a small part of the 
Federal and Confederate 
archives of the war has yet 
been published. The period r 
is one of incessant conflict — 
military, political, and social. 
For more than a generation 
no agreement can be ex- 
pected in regard to these 
grave transactions. A short 
and temperate statement of 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



the leading events is all that will be attempted here. The 
true history of the times must wait till a later day, when par- 



2^0 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

lialities and antipathies have been mitigated by renewed har- 
mony, or by other changes of sentiment.* 

2. The seeds of contention were introduced into the 
country with the foundation of the colonies. Their active 
growth was displayed in the Continental Congress. They oc- 
casioned increasing discordance after independence had been 
won. Sooner or later, war between the North and the South 
— the trading and the planting — the free and the slave-hold- 
ing States — was almost certain to occur. Actual hostilities 
had been with difficulty prevented during the last weeks of 
Buchanan's administration. They soon broke out after Lin- 
coln assumed the reins of government. 

CAPTURE OF FORT SUMTER. 

3. Fort Sumter, and Fort Pickens at Pensacola, 

were the only fortified positions which the Federal Govern- 
ment retained in the seceding States.f The rest of the public 
establishments had been promptly seized by the several States 
as soon as they seceded. Sumter had been retained by Major 
Anderson's transfer to it of his scanty garrison from Fort Moul- 
trie. The Federal authorities determined to send supplies 
and reinforcements to Fort Sumter : " peaceably, if they can ; 
-^ forcibly, if they must." Hereupon the Confeder- 
- '.. ates bombarded the fort, which surrendered, after 
it was in flames. No life was lost on either side. 
President Lincoln at once called for seventy-five thousand 
troops, and expected a speedy suppression of all resistance. 

THE SECESSION OF VIRGINIA. 

4. Virginia refused to furnish troops for war against 
her sister States. The State Convention was in session. It 



* Neither perfect accuracy nor entire impartiality can be attained in the treatment 
of a period of such violent excitement and such unsettled events. An earnest desire 
to avoid misapprehension or misrepresentation is all that can be honestly promised. 

t Fortress Monroe was in Virginia, which had not yet seceded. Fort Jefferson 
(Dry Tortugas) was on Federal domain. 



SECEDING ST A TES. 231 

passed an ordinance of secession, and seized the United States 
armory at Harper's Ferry, and the navy yard at Gosport. 
Both places were evacuated by their garrisons and damaged 
before evacuation. At Norfolk, several war vessels were 
burnt or sunk. One of them, the Mern?nac, was raised by 
the Confederates and converted into the first ram * used in 
modern warfare. 

OTHER STATES SECEDE. 

5. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas fol- 
lowed the example of Virginia in withdrawing from the 
Union. Kentucky sought to maintain a neutral position. 
Maryland and Missouri were restrained by Federal arms. A 
Massachusetts regiment, passing through Baltimore, was as- 
sailed by a crowd in the streets. General B. F. Butler occu- 
pied Annapolis, and afterwards Baltimore, and held Maryland 
by military force. 

6. The seat of the Confederate Government was 
removed to Richmond after the secession of Virginia, as 
the first and heaviest blows of the war were sure to fall upon 
that State. As soon as the ordinance of secession had been 
adopted by the people of Virginia, Arlington Heights, oppo- 
site to Washington City, were occupied by Federal troops, and 
Alexandria was seized. Eighty-three thousand men had 
been ordered for the Federal army by this time, and a block- 
ade of the whole southern coast had been proclaimed. 

EARLY ENGAGEMENTS. 

7. The first movements of the war were desultory 
and disconnected. It was designed to surround the 
Southern Confederacy, and crush it as in the folds of an 
anaconda. Its whole frontier was threatened ; and it was, in 



* The designation of " ram " has been given to vessels of war armed with an iron 
prow or beak, for the purpose of butting, piercing, and sinking the ships of the 
enemy, after the fashion of the triremes and other war galleys of the ancients. 



232 



HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



consequence, compelled to make dispositions to meet and repel 
every attack.* 'The first campaign opened in Virginia with 
small and ineffective actions. General Butler was repelled at 
Big Bethel, near Fortress Monroe. General McClellan \ pen- 
etrated the mountains of Western Virginia, and defeated the 
Confederates at Rich Mountain and Carrick's Ford. General 
Wise retreated to Lewisburg, after having occupied and aban- 
doned the Kanawha Valley. General Floyd was compelled to 
withdraw from Carnifex Ferry, on the Gauley River. West 
Virginia fell into the hands of the Federals. A Provisional 
Government was promptly organized for that part of the State. 
Unsuccessful efforts were made to regain what had been lost 
by the Confederacy in this quarter. 

THE FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS. 

8. The chief battle of the year was fought near Man- 
assas junction, where the railroad from Lynchburg to Wash- 
ington is joined by the branch line from Manassas Gap. The 
left wing of the Union army was repelled in a skirmish at 
g, the ford of Bull Run. J Three days later, the right 

y .* wing nearly succeeded in turning and crushing the 
Confederate force opposed to it. The danger was 
checked by General Early. About the same time General 
Joseph E. Johnston § received further reinforcements from the 
Valley. The Federals were hurled back in disastrous rout and 
confusion, and rushed in dismay to Washington. It was in 



* Napoleon said : " In civil wars, it is the important points only which should be 
guarded." 

t General George Brinton McClellan (1826- ) was distinguished in the Mexican 
war. In 1855 he was sent to the Crimea as a Military Commissioner. He was 
nominated for the Presidency in 1864. He was elected Governor of New Jersey m 
1878. 

X Bull Run is a small stream which runs along the plains of Manassas. It gives 
the Federal name to the batUe called by the Confederates Manassas. 

§ General Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807- ) is still living He was the young- 
est son of Major Peter Johnston, the friend and companion-in-arms of General 
Harry Lee, in the Revolution. He served in Florida, and was highly distinguished 
in the Mexican war. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR MISSOURI. 233 

this stubborn conflict that General Jackson ''" obtained the 
honorable name of " Stonewall," from the steadiness of his 
men. 

9. The victory of Manassas rendered the South 
exultant, and enraged the North, while it heightened its 
resolution. There was no longer any dream of terminating the 
war in a three months' campaign. Half a million of men and 
$500,000,000 were voted by the Federal Congress, for the 
subjugation of the seceding States. Scott resigned the office 
of Commander-in-chief, and General McClellan was summoned 
to that high position. He employed the autumn and winter 
in organizing and training the raw recruits of his vast army. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR MISSOURI. 

10. The attempt to withdraw Missouri from the 
Union was frustrated by the resolute energy of Capt. Lyon, 
and the prompt action of Francis P. Blair. f Lyon seized the 
arsenal at St. Louis. The militia at Camp Jackson, in the 
neighborhood, were forced to surrender. Governor Jackson 
called out fifty thousand militia, and named Sterling Price 
Major-General. Price withdrew to Booneville, where he was 
defeated by Lyon and Blair. He retreated to the South-west, 
and was defeated again at Carthage. Price and McCulloch 
gained a victory at Oak Hill, or Wilson's Creek ; General 
Lyon was slain in the battle. At the close of the campaign, 
Price and the Missouri volunteers were pushed back to the 
Arkansas frontier. 



* General Thoinas Jonathan Jackson (1824-1863) served with credit in the Mexican 
war. He resigned his commission in 1852 to accept a professorship in the Virginia 
Military Institute, at Lexington. He was appointed to command the Virginia "■ Army 
of Observation" at Harper's Ferry, in May 1861, and was shot exactly two years 
afterwards, by his men, acting in accordance with his own instructions. At Manas- 
sas. General Bee, encouraging his men, said : " Sec Jackson standing like a stone- 
wall." From that lime the name of " Stonewall " attached to Jackson, and to his 
brigade. 

t General Francis Preston Blair (182 1-1875), of Missouri, served in the Federal 
army during the war. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice-President in 1868. 



234 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

11. Missouri was retained in the Union by the action 
of its Convention. The offices of the Government were filled 
by a new election. The remnant of the former legislature 
assembled at Neosho, and undertook to attach the State to 
the Southern Confederacy. 

KENTUCKY. 

12. Kentucky was unable to maintain even the ap- 
pearance of neutrality. Bishop Polk, of Louisiana, who was a 
general in the Confederate service, took possession of Colum- 
bus, in Western Kentucky, and sent a detachment across the 

-J Mississippi to hold Belmont. This latter body was 
attacked by General Grant,* who gained some ad- 
vantage at first, but was at last under the necessity of with- 
drawing. It was Grant's first action in this civil warfare. 

OPERATIONS ON THE SEABOARD. 

13. On the seaboard every advantage was on the 
side of the United States. The great rivers gradually fell 
under their control. The South was without ships and with- 
out sailors, and was unable to confront the blockade of its har- 
bors. The forts on Hatteras Inlet, in North Carolina, and those 
on Port Royal harbor, in South Carolina, were captured by 
Federal fleets and Federal forces. Fort Pickens, in Florida, 
was preserved to the Union, despite of formidable preparations 
to take it. 

14. The endeavors of the Confederate Government to 
create a fleet, were, for the most part, fruitless. Their vessels 
were taken, or were burnt on the stocks before being launched. 
Confederate cruisers, the Sumter and the Nashville, had a 
brief career. They inflicted much damage upon Northern 



* General Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822- ) was in most of the battles of the Mex- 
ican war. He resigned his commission in 1854, and subsequently joined his father in 
a tannery, at Galena, Illinois. In 1861 he was appointed Colonel of Illinois vol- 
unteers. 



RESULTS OF THE YEAR. 235 

commerce, and created wide-spread alarm. Swift steamers 
were procured for the purpose of running through the block- 
ading fleets. These continued to exchange the cotton and 
tobacco of the South for indispensable foreign supplies. 

THE CONFEDERATE COMMISSIONERS. 

15. The Southern people had deemed cotton so 
necessary to the great nations of Europe as to insure the 
early support of England and France. They had long re- 
peated the saying : " Cotton is King." They were disap- 
pointed. The Commissioners to England and France, Mason 
and Slidell, were taken off the British steam-packet Trent, 

^ by Capt. Wilkes, of the San Jacinto. England de- 
^^* manded their release, and was sustained in the de- 
mand by France. Mr. Seward,* the Secretary of State, or- 
dered them to be replaced under British protection, and thus 
avoided a foreign war. 

THE RESULTS OF THE YEAR. 

16. Nothing had been achieved by the first cam- 
paign. The honors were with the South. The substantial 
advantages were with the North. Both sections had been ob- 
liged to suspend payments in specie, and to substitute Govern- 
ment paper (Treasury notes) for coin Confiscation acts 
were passed by both the Federal and the Confederate Con- 
gress. The purpose of abolishing slavery had been frequently 
denied by the Federal authorities. Their action was changed 
on the score of military necessity. 

The Second Year of the War, 1862. 

17. A series of disasters befell the Confederates in 



* William Henry Seward (1801-1872), of New York, proclaimed '• the irrepressible 
conflict " in 1848, and " the higher law " in 1830. His name had been the most prom- 
inent for the nomination for the Presidency when Lincoln was nominated. He was 
Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson. He made a journey through Califor- 
nia and Mexico in i86>, and a tour round the world in 1870-1871. 



236 HISTORY OF THE, UNITED STATES. 

the first months of the second year of the war. Generals 
Crittenden and Zollicoffer were routed at Mill Springs, on 
the southern border of Kentucky. Generals McCuUoch and 
Price were defeated at Elk Horn (Pea Ridge), in Arkansas. 
g^ Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, 

, P V on the Cumberland, were taken by General Grant, 
supported by gun-boats under Commodore Foote. 
The loss of these forts necessitated the abandonment of Ken- 
tucky and of Nashville. Columbus, on the Mississippi, and 
jj --. . Island No. 10, were given up. Roanoke Island, on 
the coast of North Carolina, was taken by General 
Burnside, with the aid of a strong naval squadron. Norfolk 
was thus threatened from the rear. A trifling victory, unpro- 
ductive of success, at Valverde {val-vair'dd)^ in New Mexico, 
was the only Confederate success. 

INAUGURATION OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

18. The frontier of the Confederacy was thus 
pushed back in the West to Arkansas and Tennessee, and 
the coast of North Carolina passed into Federal occupation. 

J., On a gloomy day in this time of gloom, Jefferson 

p, V Davis was inaugurated as the regular President 

of the Southern Confederacy. The armies were 

reorganized, and a Conscription Act passed, to fill up the ranks, 

as the early enthusiasm was already declining under the stern 

trials of actual military service. 

19. The South was waging a defensive war. Its 
movements were, therefore, determined by the movements of 
the Northern armies. The war was still conducted by the 
North without unity of plan, without due combination, and 
was pressed on every frontier. It was, however, less desultory 
than it had been in the previous campaign. 

THE VIRGINIA AND THE MONITOR. 

20. General McClellan lay round Washington with 



THE PENINSULAR WAR, 237 

nearly two hundred thousand men. He was confronted by 

General Joe Johnston with less than one-third of that number. 

Before the campaign opened on land, a remarkable conflict 

occurred in Hampton Roads, between Norfolk and Fortress 

Monroe. The frigate Merrimac, as has been mentioned, had 

been raised by the Confederates, plated with railroad iron, and 

armed with a beak, or ram. She was re-named the Virginia. 

„ ,, , She attacked the Federal fleet, sank the Cumberland, 
8 March. ^ j , ^ , • , , ^r 

and captured the Congress, which was burnt. Next 

day she encountered the iron-coated, turreted Monitor, 

which had just arrived from the North. The combat between 

these strange war monsters was undecided, the Monitor retiring 

into shoal water, and the Virginia withdrawing to Norfolk to 

repair damages. Two months later, the Virginia was blown 

up by her commander. The Monitor was lost in a storm on 

the last day of the year. 

THE WAR IN THE PENINSULA. 

21. McClelian made a feint against Johnston's 
lines before Washington, and then rapidly threw his army 
round by water to the Peninsula between the York and the 
James Rivers. His design was to move on the Confederate 
capital by a shorter land route. He was arrested by a small 
force under General Magruder, while General Johnston 
marched his army to the scene. When McClelian advanced, 
Yorktown and Norfolk were evacuated, and a spirited action 
occurred at Williamsburg. Slowly he followed Johnston to- 
wards Richmond, which was, at the same time, threatened by 
McDowell at Fredericksburg, and thrown into consternation 
by a Federal fleet on James River. 

THE BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES. 

22. Johnston fell suddenly upon McClelian at Fair Oaks 
-- and Seven Pines, while the Union army was di- 
j vided by the stream and swamps of the Chicka- 

hominy. McClelian was driven back with heavy 



238 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



loss. The Confederate commander was severely wounded, 
and was long unfit for service. He was succeeded by General 
R. E. Lee,* who remained at the head of the army of North- 
ern Virginia till the end of the war. 



JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN IN THE VALLEY. 

23. The army defending Richmond was strongly 
reinforced. It was joined by General (Stonewall) Jackson, 
after a series of rapid movements and brilliant successes, which 
were among the most striking operations of the war. He had 

been employed in the Val- 
ley of Virginia, where he 
was threatened by three 
converging columns : — by 
Banks from Winchester, 
by Fremont from West 
Virginia, and by McDowell 
from Fred ericksburg. 
Jackson checked Fremont 
at McDowell ; turned 
against Banks and drove 
him down the Valley, then 
forced him out of Winches- 
ROBERT E. LEE. tcr and across the Poto- 

mac. Retracing his steps, he gave a second check to Fre- 
mont, and, next day, routed at Port Republic General Shields, 
who had been detached against him by General McDowell. 
By these successes, he prevented Banks and Fremont from in- 
fluencing approaching events, and McDowell from uniting with 
McClellan, while he was himself enabled to strengthen Lee. 




*■ General Robert Edward Lee (1807-1870) was the son of " Light-Horse Harry " of 
the Revolution. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was recognized as the ablest 
officer in the United States army, and as the destined successor of General Scott. 
Every effort was made to retain him in the Federal service. He had been highly 
distinguished in the Mexican war. He surrendered a large fortune by joining the 
Confederacy. After the war he accepted the Presidency of Washington College, at 
Lexington, Virginia. 



THE SEVEN DA YS' BA TTLE. 239 



THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLE. 

24. General J. E. B. Stuart '^^ made a cavalry reconnois- 
sance completely round the Union army, which was still di- 
vided by the Chickahominy. McClellan was attacked on the 

^ _ right wing, as he was preparing to assume the of- 

"i - * fensive.f Next day General A. P. Hill carried 
liis position at Gaines's Mill, and Jackson, with 
timely aid from Longstreet, crushed his lines at Cold Harbor. 
McClellan drew back his army to the James River, where he 
was protected by his gun-boats. The Confederates rashly at- 
tacked him in his strong position at Malvern Hill, and were 
repulsed with great slaughter. Richmond was relieved. The 
Federal attack had utterly failed. 

25. In the six weeks ensuing. President Lincoln ordered a 
new levy of six hundred thousand men, and appointed Gen- 
eral Halleck Commander-in-chief, in place of McClellan. 

« During the same anxious period, he sought to dis- 

* tract the South by proposing the emancipation of 
the slaves, with the payment of an arbitrary price for them. 

THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS. 

26. A new army was formed, by combining separate 
divisions, while McClellan's host lay shattered and dispirited 
on the banks of the James. It war, put under General Pope, 
with instructions to fall upon Richmond from the North. The 
advanced division of this army, under Banks, was met and de- 
feated by Jackson at Cedar Mountain. Lee brought up his 

* Major-General James E. B. Stuart (1832-1864), of Virginia, was the most dashing 
officer of the Confederate cavalry. He fell mortally wounded at the Yellow Tavern, 
near Richmond. 

t Lee's force in the Seven Days' Fight was under eighty thousand, with one hun- 
dred and fifty guns. General Early states it to have been " the largest army Lee 
ever commanded." McClellan placed his force at one hundred and five thousand 
eight hundred and twenty-five present, fit for duty, with three hundred and forty 
field-pieces, besides siege guns. 

General Heth put the Federal numbers at one hundred and fifteen thousand. 



240 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

main body from Richmond, got in the rear of Pope by a 
daring and brilliant manoeuvre, and utterly routed him in the 
. Second Battle of Manassas. Pope, after suffer- 
ing further losses on the retreat, found safety within 
the lines of Washington. McClellan was restored to the com- 
mand. 

LEE'S INVASION OF MARYLAND. 

27. When Pope retired, Lee crossed the Potomac, to 

procure needful supplies, and to relieve Virginia from the en- 
emy by threatening Washington. Nearly twelve thousand 
Federal troops, with seventy-five guns and ample stores, sur- 
rendered at Harper's Ferry to a detached force under 
Jackson. Meanwhile, Lee was forced from his position at 
South Mountain, and retreated to Sharpsburg. Here Jack- 
^ son rejoined him, and a general action took place 

on Antietam {an-te'tam) Creek. The battle was 
stubborn, and attended with heavy loss on both sides. After 
waiting a day, in expectatiort of a renewed attack, Lee crossed 
the Potomac in the night, and was followed by McClellan. 

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 

28. General McClellan was again displaced. Gen- 
eral Burnside reluctantly accepted the chief command of " the 
Army of the Potomac." He determined to move straight on 
Richmond by way of Fredericksburg. After longprepara- 

_ tion, the Rappahannock was passed below the 
' * town, and the town was subjected to a heavy 

cannonade. The Federal columns gallantly assaulted Marye's 
{fuar-ccz) Hill, but were hurled back with frightful slaughter 
on every attack. Burnside returned to the northern shore of 
the river, and was superseded by General Hooker — " Fighting 
Joe Hooker," as he was called in the army. 

THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 

29. The Confederate disasters in the West almost 



CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 24 1 

outweighed the successes in Virginia. The Union army, after 
gaining Fort Donelson and Nashville, pressed on towards Mis- 
, . . sissippi. At Shiloh Church, near Pittsburg Land- 
' ' ing, General Albert S. Johnston fell upon Grant, 

and drove him to the Tennessee River, under shelter of the gun- 
boats. At this moment Johnston received a mortal wound. 
During the night General Buell joined Grant, and their com- 
bined forces renewed the battle next morning. General 
Beauregard,* who was now in command of the Confederates, 
withdrew to Corinth. That place was abandoned on the ap- 
proach of the Federal army, of more than one hundred thou- 
sand men, under General Halleck. A week later, Memphis 
was captured by the Federals, and the whole course of the 
Mississippi above Vicksburg fell into their hands. An unsuc- 
cessful attempt on the latter city was made by General Grant 
and General Sherman,f in December. 

THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 

30. A more important conquest had been made by 
the Federals on the lower Mississippi, six weeks before the 

. .. fall of Memphis. As the forts which defended the 
* river approach to New Orleans did not yield, when 
bombarded by Admiral Farragut, he cut the chain which 
barred the passage, led his fleet past the guns, and appeared 
before the city. It was wholly defenceless, and capitulated at 
once. A week after. General Benjamin F. Butler arrived 
with the land forces, and took military possession of the place, 
which he ruled with coarse severity. The upper and the lower 
course of the Mississippi was lost to the Southern Confederacy, 
with nearly all Louisiana. 

BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 

31. The Confederate invasion of Kentucky failed 



* Gencnil Pierre Gustave Toutant Beaureg'ard (1818- ) was promoted for gal- 
lant service in Mexico, and became a full General in the Confederate service, 
t General William Tecurasch Sherman (1820- ) served in the Seminole War. He 
II 



242 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

entirely. Some slight successes were gained at first. Buell 
reached Louisville before General Bragg, who was advancing 
to seize it. Bragg fell back, and was joined by General Kirby 
Smith with the other invading column. An engagement took 
o n f place at Perryville. The Confederates gained the 
advantage, but were unable to profit by it. Buell was 
removed from command, and General Rosecrans was ap- 
pointed in his place. 

BATTLES OF MURFREESBORO. 

32. Rosecrans followed Bragg into Tennessee, and 

fought two battles with him at Murfreesboro. On the last 

day of the year his right wing was driven 

^ '. back. He maintained his ground, and re- 

•^ '' * newed the battle on the second day of the new 

year. The fighting was desperate, the slaughter great, the 

other losses very heavy.* Bragg retired southwards. 

NAVAL OPERATIONS. 

33. The Federal blockade was strengthened. The 

islands along the coasts of Georgia and Florida were captured. 

The attacks, by sea and land, on the city of Charles- 
Q, ' ton, met with no success, nor had any attended the 

malicious scheme for ruining its harbor.f It was 
still reached by daring blockade-runners. Wilmington was 
the only other port on the Atlantic coast that remained ac- 
cessible to Confederate intercourse with foreign countries. 

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 

34. At the autumnal equinox President Lincoln announced 
his purpose of declaring the slaves free, wherever the Federal 



was head of the Louisiana State Military Academy when the war broke out. He 
gave up his position and joined the Union army. He succeeded Grant as General of 
the army. 

* The killed and wounded on each side exceeded nine thousand. 

t Towards the end of the preceding year seventeen vessels loaded with stone were 
sunk in the harbor. The obstruction deepened another channel. 



THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR. 243 

authority continued to be resisted after the close of the year.* 
No attention was paid to the threat. An Emancipation 
Proclamation was, accordingly, issued on New-Year's Day. It 
produced no immediate effect. 

MEDIATION ATTEMPTED. 

35. Louis Napoleon, the Emperor of France, invited 
England and the Czar of Russia to join with him in of- 
fering mediation between the warring sections of the disunited 
States. The invitation was declined by England, and the proj- 
ect could not be prosecuted. At the beginning of the next 
year a direct proposal was made by the Emperor alone. It 
was declined. 

CONDITION OF THE BELLIGERENTS.' 

36. The war was sustained on both sides by Gov- 
ernment currency, t The value of the paper money de- 
clined, but much more rapidly at the South than at the North. 
The credit of the Federal Government was upheld by trade, 
manufactures, exports, and accumulated capital ; by heavy 
taxes on imports, on domestic products, on business transac- 
tions, and on everything that could be taxed. The Confeder- 
acy was weakened by the rigorous blockade, by the various 
interruptions of industry, by the loss of whole States, or parts 
of States, and by the Federal control of the Mississippi and its 
great tributaries. 

The Third Year of the War, 1863. 

37» The nations of Europe had witnessed with interest and 
corTcern the progress of the intestine war in America. The 
British manufacturers, both employers and factory hands, suf- 



* Captured and runaway slaves had been freed before this time, as property " con- 
traband of war." This device had been adopted by General Butler at Fortress 
Monroe. 

t The notes issued by the Confederate Government promised to pay the amounts 
specified on their face " two years after the conclusion of a Treaty of Peace with the 
United States." 



244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

fered severely from the stoppage of the usual supplies of cot 
ton. Other classes suffered in connection with them. Recog- 
nition of the Confederate States was proposed. There was a 
wide division of sentiment on the subject. Hostilities pro- 
ceeded with increased virulence, and the United States put 
into the field armies larger, more disciplined, and better 
equipped than before. The military operations continued to 
be disconnected, and may be distributed, according to their 
occurrence : — in Virginia ; on the Mississippi, or beyond it ; in 
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia ; and on the coast. The 
year was notable for numerous raids conducted on a large 
scale. 

THE BATTLE OF CH ANCELLORSVILLE. 

2t%. *' The Army of the Potomac " numbered one 

hundred and thirty-two thousand men. Lee's force 

was little more than one-third as many. Hooker dispatched 

General Sedgwick to watch, and to threaten, the Confederate 

right at Fredericksburg, while he moved up the Rappahannock 

with the main body. Hooker crossed the river, and took up 

a fortified position at Chancellorsville. General Jackson 

marched with a large part of the Confederate army, from its 

extreme ridit, across the front of the whole Federal 
2 Mav 

* army, turned Hooker's flank, and suddenly crushed m 

his right wing. He received several wounds in the darkness 
from his own men, while preparing to push the grtat advan- 
tage which he had gained. In eight days he was dead. 

39. The advantage was not wholly lost by Jackson's re- 
moval from the field. The Federals were closely '' pressed," 
the next day, by Lee in front, and by Stuart in flank, and 
were forced back to the river. Lee was recalled from the 
scene by the necessity of meeting Sedg^vick, who was coming 
up on his rear. Sedgwick was repulsed, but made good his 
retreat across the Rappahannock. The river was repassed by 
Hooker also, and rose so much from recent rains as to render 
pursuit hazardous. 



IN VA SION OF PENNS YL VANIA. 245 

INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

40. General Lee crossed the Blue Ridge into the 
Valley, when relieved from the enemy in his front, and led 
sixty thousand men into Pennsylvania. The cavalry protect- 
ing the rear of both armies and concealing their movements, 
engaged in a long and repeated combat on the broad plains 
near Brandy Station (Battle of Fleetwood). This was the 
greatest cavalry action of the war. Winchester was surprised 
and captured, and Lee poured his army across the Potomac. 
One hundred thousand Union volunteers were suddenly called 
for to meet the imminent danger. 

THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 

41. Hooker resigned the command of the Army of 
the Potomac, and was succeeded by General Meade. The 

Federal and Confederate armies stumbled upon 
-3 JU y. ^^^j^ other at Gettysburg,* and the fiercest, the 
most obstinate, and the bloodiest battle of the war occurred. 
On three successive days the Confederates endeavored to 
storm the strong Federal positions on the heights above the 
town. On the third day, a furious assault was made on the 
Union centre by Pickett's division and other troops. f The as- 
sailants, broken and torn by the murderous cannonade to which 
they were exposed, reached the intrenchments, and many fell 
between the guns on the ramparts. They were not effectually 
supported, and were driven back with fearful loss. Lee waited 
a day to be attacked, and offered battle on his sturdy retreat. 
The battle of Gettysburg was the turning event of the war. 
The Confederates who fell there were never replaced. 

42. Lee returned across the Potomac into the Valley 
of Virginia, and was followed by Meade. J He fell back slowly 

♦ " Meade's army numbered at least 100,000 men ; Lee's, less than 60,000 of all arms." 
+ The attack under Pickett was made by Kemper's and Gamett's brigades, sup- 
ported by Armstead's. On their right was Wilco.x's brigade ; on their left, Heth'a 
division, composed chiefly of North Carolinians, under Pettigrew. 

$ On his return to Virginia, after the Gettysburg campaign, Genera' Lee tendered 
his resignation to President Davis. It was not accepted. 



246 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

to the Rapidan. By a bold dash, he nearly succeeded in cut- 
XT ting Meade's communications with Washington. 
He subsequently defeated, at Mine Run, an ef- 
fort to turn his flank and get in his rear. 

SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF VICKSBQRG. 

43. A second attempt was made in the spring to take 
Vicksburg, and thus secure control of the whole course of 
the Mississippi. A canal, designed to reach the river below, 
and to change the course of the stream, was dug across the 
neck of a great bend opposite the city. It was destroyed by a 
flood. Grant, who was in command, then changed his plans. 
The Federal iron-clads and transports passed the batteries of 
Vicksburg in the night. Grant led his army down the right 
bank of the river, crossed it, and prepared to attack the city 

, -- from the rear. He took Jackson, the capital of 
14 May. ^,. . , . , 1 -, • L- J 1 • 

Mississippi, tore up the railroads, inflicted other in- 
juries, routed General Pemberton at Baker's Creek (Cham- 
pion Hill), shut him up in Vicksburg, and invested it. 

44. General Joe Johnston, the chief Confederate com- 
mander in Mississippi, was too weak to interrupt the siege. 
Two attempts were made to take the place by storm. They 

- . were repulsed with great slaughter. The city was 
^* surrendered on the 4th of July. Thus, in the same 
days, the Confederacy was mortally wounded in the East and 
in the West. The whole course of the Mississippi was recov- 
ered for the Union, and the country beyond it was almost 
entirely severed from the rest of the Confederacy. 

STREIGHT'S RAID. 

45. The severity of winter kept the armies in Ten- 
nessee inactive. In the early summer a raid, for the pur- 
pose of cutting the railroads, was made by Colonel Streight, 

_-. and a picked body of Federal cavalry. They were 
^' captured by General Forrest, on the border of Ala- 
bama and Georgia. 



IMPORTANT BATTLES, 247 



MORGAN'S RAID. 



46. General Morgan with his cavalry made a like 
raid northwards and across the Ohio. He crossed Kentucky, 
passed the Ohio below Louisville, swept round Cincinnati, 

, -. . and after vain attempts to recross the Ohio, sur- 
rendered with five hundred men, near the upper 
bend of the river. These prisoners were confined in the Pen- 
itentiary. 

BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. 

47. Morgan had failed to receive support, as General Rose- 
crans had advanced from Murfreesboro on General Bragg at 
TuUahoma. Bragg withdrew to Chattanooga. This he aban- 
doned when Rosecrans approached. Both armies were strongly 

^ reinforced. Bragg fell upon Rosecrans on 

' Chickamauga Creek, and drove him, with 
heavy loss, back into Chattanooga.* An utter rout was pre- 
vented only by the steadiness of General Thomas and the left 
wing of the Union army.f 

BATTLES OF LOOK OUT MOUNTAIN AND MISSIONARY 

RIDGE. 

48. Grant was now appointed to the command of the 
Federal armies on the Tennessee. He brought strong rein- 
forcements to the relief of Rosecrans, who was cooped up in 
Chattanooga, with his communications by river and rail all 
broken. By Hooker's capture of Look Out Mountain 

"M (^^^ Battle of the Clouds),! and by Sherman's 

^' ^ ' victory next day at Missionary Ridge, Bragg 

was forced out of his strong position, and Rosecrans entirely 



* Chickamauga— " the Dead River"— twelve miles from Chattanooga. 

t General Garfield, afterwards President, joined Thomas in this stubborn retreat, 
after the body to which he had been attached was scattered. 

X " The Battle of the Clouds " never occurred. There was only some skirmishing'. 
It was fog in the valley, not cloud on the mountain, that hid Hooker's movements. 



248 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

relieved. General Bragg had seriously weakened himself by 
^ sending General Longstreet and his corps against 
^ * Burnside at Knoxville, which they besieged. A 

rash attempt to storm the town was disastrously repulsed. 

BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER AND CHARLESTON. 

49. No serious change resulted from the operations 
on the coast this year. The Confederates recovered Gal- 
veston, in Texas, on New-Year's Day. The most important 
transaction was the renewed attack on Charleston, S. C. An 
assault on Fort Sumter, by iron-clad war vessels, was defeated 
with heavy damage to the assailing fleet. Attempts to surprise 
the fort were foiled. Its walls crumbled under the furious 
tempest of shot and shell to which it was exposed. Its ruins 
rendered it invulnerable. Shot and shell plunged harmlessly 
into the rubbish with which it became encased. The besieg- 
ers slowly worked their way closer to the city, by land. Fort 
Wagner was evacuated after a siege of fifty-seven days. A 
heavy " Parrott gun " was planted in the swamps, and called 
" The Swamp Angel." Shells were thrown by it into the city, 
which had been damaged and set on fire by a previous bom- 
bardment. 

THE ALABAMA. 

50. The Confederate cruisers, and especially the Ala- 
bama,* under Capt. Semmes, inflicted very great damage 
upon the shipping and commercial interests of the Northern 
States. These injuries occasioned the demands subsequently 
made on Great Britain, under the designation of the Alabama 
Claims. 



* The A labama was built and equipped at Birkenhead, one of the suburbs of Liver- 
pool. It sailed under the name of the " 290," being the 290th vessel constructed by 
the Messrs. Laird. Her armament and stores were sent in advance of her, in a trans- 
port, to the Azores. A sharp correspondence took place between Mr. Adams, the 
United States Ambassador, and Lord John Russell, on the subject of her detention. 



FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR. 249 



WEST VIRGINIA. 

51. West Virginia, which had been torn off from Vir- 
ginia in the early period of the war, was admitted into the 
Union as a separate State, during the year. 

CONSEQUENCES OF THE CAMPAIGN 

52. The Southern Confederacy was cut in two by 

the loss of the Mississippi. Tennessee was wrenched from it, 
and its available domain was greatly contracted. It was 
declining in extent, in resources, and in strength. Its cur- 
rency was almost worthless, and every project entertained for 
its improvement quickened its depreciation. The Federal 
_. , finances were sustained by European loans, and by 
Secretary Chase's scheme of National Banks and 
National Currency. The burdens of war weighed upon 
the mass of the people, but war produced its own interests and 
opportunities, and vast fortunes were rapidly made. The ter- 
ritories along the Rocky Mountains were filling up with a 
busy population, while the older States were involved in bloody 
strife. Nevada was already beginning to add her treasures to 
thfe silver of the world. 

A Conscription Act was passed in the spring by the Con- 
gress of the United States. The Union armies needed re- 
cruits, and three hundred thousand more men were ordered to 
the field. This act was resisted in some places, and the con- 
scription caused a desperate riot at New York. 



The Fourth Year of the War.— 1864. 

53. A million of men were in the Federal armies 

in the fourth year of the war. The Confederate forces scarcely 
reached a quarter of that number. The interest is concen- 
trated on two lines of operation : the advance on Richmond 
in the East, and on Atlanta in the South-west. 
II* 



250 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Some transactions elsewhere require previous notice to avoid 
confusion. 

54. General Seymour invaded Florida, to reclaim it 
for the Union before the Presidential election. Hewasutter- 

20 F h ^^ defeated at Olustee (Ocean Pond). Sher- 
man marched from Vicksburg, to drive the Con- 
federates out of Mississippi. He destroyed the railroads round 
Meridian, and marked his track with ravage. A cavalry raid 
was intended to support this movement, but it was arrested by 
General Forrest at Okalona. Forrest made an attempt on 
Padu'cah, Ky. He failed there, but stormed and took Fort 
Pillow. 

55. General Banks, with a part of liis own and of Sher- 
man's command, undertook an expedition up the Red River, 

J. . .-in Louisiana. He was defeated near Mansfield, 
was attacked next day at Pleasant Hill, and driven 
to the protection of his gun-boats. 

In North Carolina the Confederates gained an advantage 
at Newbern, and that town and Plymouth afterwards fell into 
their hands. 

KILPATRICK'S RAID AND DAHLGREN'S DEATH. 

56. The Fourth Campaign in Virginia was more 
stubborn and more desperate than any previous one had 
been. While the armies still watched each other on the Rapi- 
dan, Kilpatrick led his cavalry round Lee's right flank, to cut 
the railroads and surprise Richmond. Colonel Dahlgren, who 
accompanied the expedition, had undertaken to liberate the 
Union prisoners on the further side of James River, and, it is 
asserted, to burn Richmond and to massacre the high officers 
of the Confederate Government. He could not cross the 
river, and was killed on the retreat. 

GRANT COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 

57. General Grant, now commander-in-chief of all the 



grajWt commander-in-chief. 251 

armies of the United States, passed the Rapidan, in the be- 
ginning of May, with one hundred thousand men, having forty 
thousand more under his im.mediate orders. Lee encountered 
him with less than thirty thousand, but was joined by Long- 
street and other detachments, in the second day's battle. 
Butler proceeded up the James River, against Richmond and 
Petersburg, with more than thirty thousand men. Other 
Federal bodies were distributed in other quarters, to divide the 
Confederate forces or to distract their attention. 

THE BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS. 

58. Lee, with his weak force, engaged at once the great 
army of Grant, on its march through the thickets and woods 

-- of the Wilderness. Longstreet arrived on the 

second day, but was seriously wounded by his own 
men, and continued long unfit for service. The desperate 
fighting lasted, with few interruptions, for a week or more. 
Grant was constantly reinforced, and steadily endeavored to 
turn the right flank of the Confederates. He found Lee 
always in his front, and he was always compelled to edge off 
in the direction of his own left. A fierce struggle took place 
-_ at Spottsylvania Court-House, when an advanced 
work of the Confederates was carried in the early 
morning by the Union troops.* No permanent advantage was 
thus gained. Grant continued to slide down Lee's right flank 
towards Richmond. He had lost, in the repeated engage- 
ments, as many men as were in Lee's whole army. 

DEATH OF OENERAL STUART. 

59. General Sheridan made a rapid raid, to cut the 

railroads behind Lee, and fall unexpectedly upon Richmond. 

-, He pierced the outer defences of the city, but met 
II May. . ?- , , , • 

with opposition, and returned to the main army. 

* Here, and on another occasion, a few days previously. General Lee had placed 
himself at the head of his column, and was forced back by the cry of his men : 
" General Lee to the rear ! General Lee to the rear ! " 



252 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The Confederate General, J. E. B. Stuart, was slain in an en- 
counter with this force. 

60. General Butler had disembarked below Richmond, at 
the confluence of the Appomattox with the James. He was 
driven into his intrenchments and shut up in his lines by 
Beauregard : — " bottled up," as General Grant afterwards 
said. 

THE FEDERAL INROAD INTO THE VALLEY. 

61. In the Valley, Sigel {see'ghel) was routed by Breckin- 
ridge, at Newmarket, a victory decided by the Cadets of the 

«« State Military Institute. Sigel was replaced by 
Hunter. The latter was joined by Averill from the 
Kanawha, and by Cook, who had gained a victory at Dublin, 
and destroyed the bridge, in that neighborhood, over New River. 
The united force entered Lexington, burnt the Military Insti- 
tute, where " Stonewall " Jackson had been a professor, and 
other buildings. They then crossed the Blue Ridge by diffi- 
cult paths, and appeared before Lynchburg. Here they were 
met by Early and Breckinridge. They retreated in ruinous 
disorder to the Valley of the Kanawha, and were hotly pursued 
for a time. 

THE SECOND BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR. 

62. Grant was still edging towards Richmond while 

these movements were proceeding elsewhere. He attempted 

to carry the Confederate works at Cold Harbor, but was 

- hurled back with such horrid slaughter that his 

3 June. 

men refused to repeat the attack. In ten minutes 

he had sacrificed more than thirteen thousand of his troops. 

He then transported his army to the southern bank of James 

River. General Sheridan was dispatched with the cavalry to 

seize Gordonsville and Charlottesville, but was defeated by 

General Hampton with a greatly inferior force. 



ADVANCE ON WASHINGTON. 



THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG. 



253 



63. Grant threw up intrenchments along the whole 
front of his new position. He was protected on the wings 
and rear by the James and Appomattox rivers. He still en- 
deavored to turn Lee's flank. The subsequent operations of the 
campaign took place, in consequence, mainly around Peters- 
burg". A fort in front of that city was mined, and blown up, 

with damage only to the assailants, four thousand of 
^* whom perished. The scene of the disaster received 
the name of '* The Crater.'* Grant continued to extend his 
lines to the left. He gained the Weldon Railroad, and pushed 
beyond it. He thus threatened more and more the right and 
rear of the Confederates, and captured or menaced the rail- 
roads which brought their supplies from the South and the 
South-west. Other attempts were made in other quarters to 
break or to turn Lee's thin lines. General Butler endeavored 
to divert the course of the James River, by digging a canal at 
" Dutch Gap," across a neck of land, at a great bend of the 
river * 

ADVANCE ON WASHINGTON. 

64. Early and Breckinridge were ordered across 
the Potomac, when the Valley of Virginia was cleared by 
Hunter's retreat from Lynchburg. It was intended to threaten 
Baltimore and Washington, in the hope that Grant would be 
thus recalled from Petersburg. Grant did not move. The 
Confederates gained a victory on the Monoc'acy, and turned 

- J towards Washington. Strong reinforcements ar- 
rived from Grant, and Early retired. In passing 
through Pennsylvania, Chambersburg was burnt in retaliation 
for Hunter's wanton destruction in the Valley. 

SHERIDAN IN THE VALLEY. 

65. The Confederates were followed into Virginia 



* The cut has been conu>leted since the war, with benefit to the navigation. 



254 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



by Sheridan, with more than thrice their numbers. They 

were attacked at Winchester, and at Fisher's 

* Hill. Sheridan pushed on, burning barns, mills, 

and houses, and rendering the country " so bare that a crow 

^ could fly over it without finding food." His main 

^ * body was routed at Cedar Creek, but he arrived 

in person on the field, and converted defeat into victory. 

SHERMAN'S ADVANCE ON ATLANTA. 

66. Sherman received the chief command of the 
Union armies on the Tennessee when Grant went to 
Virginia. General Joe Johnston was the Confederate com- 
mander in that quarter, 
in place of Bragg. Sher- 
man advanced in three 
columns, which threat- 
ened Johnston in front 
and on both wings. Each 
column was but little in- 
ferior to the whole Con- 
federate force. John- 
ston slowly and skilfully 
retired, as his succes- 
sive positions were in 
danger of being flanked. 
A general engagement, 
under ordinary circum- 
stances, would have been 
ruinous to him. Skirmishes and combats were frequent, and 
at Kenesaw Mountain assumed the proportions cf a battle. 
Johnston fell back to Atlanta, and was removed by 
President Davis from the command. General Hood, 
"more bold and rash," was appointed in his stead. 

HOOD'S CAMPAIGN. 








JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON. 



17 July. 



67. Hood assailed Sherman four times in front of 



SHERIDAN'S ''MARCH TO THE SEA,' 



255 



Atlanta, and was on each occasion repulsed with disastrous 
^ loss. He gave up the city, and marched north- 

^ * wards, breaking the railroad at Big Shanty and 
Resaca. He was pursued. He then turned to the West. For 
some time nothing was heard of him. Generals Thomas and 
Schofield were sent to oppose him in Tennessee. A severe 
skirmish took place at Columbia. A victory was gained by 
^ _ Hood at Franklin, and he pushed on to the heights 
^* ' of Nashville. Here a decisive action occurred. 

The Confederates were utterly routed, and the scattered rem- 
nants of that army never reassembled. 

SHERMAN'S "MARCH TO THE SEA." 

68. Sherman returned to Atlanta before Hood turned 
aside to Alabama. He resolved to force his way to the At- 
lantic coast. The inhabitants of Atlanta were driven out and 
the city destroyed. Sher- 
man moved southwards 
Dy easy marches, leaving 
desolation behind him 
over a breadth of eighty 
miles.* No force op- 
posed him. One attack 
was made by Wheeler's 
cavalry. It produced 
little effect. The Con- 
federates withdrew into 
the lines of Savannah. 
Communications were 
opened with the United 
States fleet. Fort Mc- 
Allister, which commanded the Ogee'chee, was stormed. 
Savannah was occupied in little more than five weeks after 




WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. 



* General Sherman characterized the " March to the Sea " as " our rather Vandahc 
march." 



256 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

the departure from Atlanta. It was offered to President 
-^ Lincoln as a " Christmas gift." The shrunken 

territory of the Confederate States was again 
cut in two. 

CONFEDERATE DISASTERS ON SEA AND COAST. 

69. The Confederate disasters on the sea and along 
the coast corresponded with the misfortunes on land. The 

-. noted cruiser Alabama was shattered and sunk 

* by the Kearsarge, off Cherbourg {shair'doorg), in 

France.* The Florida was seized by the Wachu' setts, in the 

^ . neutral harbor of San Salvador, in Brazil. It was 
7 Oct • 

' * conveniently run into by a United States vessel, and 

sunk in Hampton Roads. The harbor of Mobile was gained 

and closed by Admiral Farragut, with a Federal squadron. 

The Confederate ram Tennessee was disabled, and reduced to 

_ surrender. Fort Fisher, at the mouth of the 

^* ^ ' Cape Fear River, was vainly assailed by General 

Butler, who was supported by a fleet. He exploded a large 

powder-boat at such a distance as to make much noise and 

inflict no damage.f The fort was taken early in the next year, 

and Wilmington was evacuated a month afterwards. 

REELECTION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

70. A Presidential Election occurred during the 
year. Lincoln was reelected by a small majority of the 
popular vote, which included the votes of the soldiers in the 
army and navy. Andrew Johnson,| of Tennessee, was elected 

* In this action the Kearsarge was protected by heavy chains hung over its sides 
where it was most vulnerable. Captain Semmes, the commander of the Alabama^ 
was rescued, after the sinking of his ship, by the steam-yacht Deerhoicnd^ belonging 
to a private English gentleman. He was carried to England. 

t The failure of this scheme was anticipated by General Sherman and other officers 
of experience. 

X Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), born in North Carolina, was apprenticed to a tailor 
fn early life. He taught himself to read. He migrated to Tennessee in 1826. He 
was United States Senator at the breaking out of the war. Lincoln made him Pro- 
visional Governor of Tennessee. He became President on Lincoln's assassination. 
He was United States Senator when he died. 



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END OF THE WAR. 



257 



Vice-President. General McClellan was the candidate brought 
out in opposition to Lincohi. On the eve of the election, 
Nevada was welcomed into the Union as the thirty-sixth 
State. 

FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE CURRENCY. 

, 71. The Federal currency sunk to one-third of its 
nominal value, in consequence of the large amount of paper 
money issued. The Federal debt reached eighteen hundred 
millions of dollars. The Confederate debt was not much less, 
but cannot be estimated, as the value of the currency had sunk 
below a twentieth of the promises on the face of the notes.* 
The old currency, too, had been called in ; and " a New 
Issue" ordered, which only hastened the progress of decline. 
Additional taxes were imposed ; but the territory of the Seced- 
ing States was shrivelled up, and their resources exhausted. 

Close of Lincoln's Administration.— The End of 
THE War. -1865. 

72. The fifth spring saw the close of the war. The 
main operations occurred between the Savannah and the James 
River. Military movements took place beyond these narrow 
limits, but they were on a small scale, and had little influence 
on the final result. The death struggle was fought within 
closed lists. The Federal armies numbered more than a mill- 
ion of men. The South was drained of men, of means, and of 
supplies.! It brought into the field barely one hundred and fifty 
thousand soldiers — ragged, shivering, hungry, gaunt — whose 
families were starving at home. Numbers of its veterans were 
famishing in Northern prisons ; for the exchange of prisoners 
had been stopped. 

73. The end was manifestly near at hand. Irregular pro- 



* A barrel of flour sold for $400, and a pair of boots $800. 

t General Grant said the Confederacy " had robbed the cradle and the grave " to fill 
its armies. 



258 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

posals for the restoration of peace were made. President 
P , Lincoln met three Confederate Commissioners near 
Fortress Monroe. Their instructions rendered 
any settlement by conference impossible. The previous day, 
the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declaring 
the abolition of slavery, had been accepted by Congress. 

74. The final campaign consisted of two divisions- 
parts of the same plan, and working together to the same end. 
These were the operations in Virginia and those in the Car- 
olinas. 

DESTRUCTION OF RAILROADS IN VIRGINIA. 

75. Lee lay during the winter in his long lines before 
Petersburg and Richmond. He had less than forty thousand 
men confronting the Union army of nearly two hundred thou- 
sand. The railroads by which his troops were supplied were 
nearly all taken before the winter had fairly ended. Sheridan 
hurried up the Valley, routed and scattered Early's small and 

-» , worn-out command at Waynesboro, crossed the 
Blue Ridge, destroyed the railroads round Char- 
lottesville, broke the James River Canal, and was prevented 
from taking Lynchburg only by high waters. In the South- 
west, General Stoneman cut the railroad at Wytheville and 
Christiansburg. The lead mines near the former place, and 
the salt works on the Holston, were rendered unserviceable at 
the same time.* 

EVACUATION OF RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG. 

76. Grant continued to threaten Lee's right flank, 

and the railroads on the south side of James River, by which 
the Confederates now received their chief supplies of food. 
Grant's forward movements were vigorously arrested at Hatch- 



* From the Wythe Lead Mines the Confederates obtained all their lead ; from the 
Holston Salt Works nearly all ttiC salt used east of the Mississippi. 



SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX. 259 

er's Run, at Fort Steadman, and at Five Forks. Sheridan 

_- , returned the day after the last repulse, and crushed 

. . * the extreme right of the Confederates. Next 

* morning Lee's thin lines were broken in three 

places. During the ensuing night Richmond and Petersburg 

were abandoned, and a rapid retreat towards Danville was 

begun. 

THE SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX. 

77. The Confederates were hotly pursued. Lee's lines had 
been held at last by only twenty-five thousand men. Of these 
many dropped by the wayside, or straggled off on the retreat. 
They were hopeless, broken down, famishing. Horses gave 
out, long trains of wagons were captured, guns were aban- 
doned, muskets were thrown away. The pursuit was breath- 
less, and never flagged. Several attacks were repelled, but a 
serious disaster was experienced at Sailor's Creek. There was 
no time for rest, for sleep, or for food. There was no food. 
Those who still kept with the standards often sustained life by 
snatching an ear of corn from the corn-cribs, the horses, or 
the fields, where the shocks had been left standing all winter. 
At Appomattox Court-House Sheridan appeared in front 
of Lee. A hope was entertained of cutting a way through this 
opposition, but infantry had come up. Stoneman, too, was 
approaching Lynchburg. The road to Danville was effectu- 
ally closed. The main army of the enemy was at hand on 
flank and rear. General Lee was reduced to the necessity of 
- .. surrendering. He had only eight thousand mus- 
* kets in his ranks. Honorable terms were accorded 
by Grant.* General Lee bade farewell to the army of North- 
ern Virginia in a touching address, and retired to Richmond 



* The story, long current, that General Grant had returned General Lee's sword 
to him, has been contradicted by both those officers. 

General Lee remarked : " He had no opportunity of doing so ; I was determined 
that the side-arras of officers should be exempt by the terms of surrender." 



26o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

on parole. The war was over in Virginia, and the surrender 
at Appomattox insured its termination everywhere. 

BURNING OF RICHMOND. 

78. The public property at Richmond was committed 
to the flames by the Confederate authorities when the city 
was evacuated. The fire spread widely, and a large part of 
the city was burnt. In the midst of the conflagration, the 
Federal troops entered, and occupied the capital of Virginia, 
and of the Southern Confederacy. 

END OF THE CONFEDERACY. 

79. The officers of the Confederate and State Governments 
had escaped. Mr. Davis and most of his Cabinet proceeded 

.. first to Danville, then to Greensboro, in North 
^ ^ ^ * Carolina, and thence to Charlotte, where the Con- 
federate Government was dissolved. 

SHERMAN'S MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLINAS. 

80. Sherman had been ordered to join Grant by sea, 

but was permitted to bring up his army by land, in conse- 
quence of the difficulties of maritime transportation. Starting 
from the south-west corner of South Carolina, he directed his 
course towards Goldsboro, N. C, where supplies were sent to 
meet him. Burning, ravaging, destroying, he pushed on, al- 
_ , most without interruption. Columbia, the beauti- 
^ * ful capital of South Carohna, was burnt.* Charles- 

ton was evacuated on the capture of Columbia. A stub- 

^ ,»ir « born action with General Hardee took place at 
16 March. . u ^r ^ r., . j 

- - , Avery SDOro, N. C. Sherman was encountered 
10 March. ,1. "1 j 1 • r , • . 

with steady resolution for three successive days, 



* There is not one line in Sherman's military correspondence, in the Supplement to 
the Conduct of the War, relative to the occupation and burning of Columbia. There 
is a gap from i6th February to 21st February. 

On the preceding New-Year's Eve, he had written to Admiral Dahlgren : " I pro- 
pose to march my whole army through South Carolina, tearing up railroads and 
smashing things generally." 



A SSA SSINA TION OF LINCOLN, 2 6 1 

at Bentonville, by General Joe Johnston, who had been 
again placed in command, when utter hopelessness prevailed. 
Sherman's march was scarcely delayed. He was joined by 
General Schofield, from Newbern, and General Terry, from 
Wilmington. By his own account, ninety-five thousand men 
were around him at Goldsboro, his new base of supplies. 
Johnston had barely a quarter of that number. 

JOHNSTON'S SURRENDER. 

81. Sherman moved against Johnston after having 
rested and refreshed his weary troops. He received, near 
Raleigh, propositions for a surrender, after Lee's surrender was 

^ - .- known. The terms were arranged by the opposing 

' generals, in a personal conference, at Durham's 

Station. They were rejected by the Federal Government, 

for Lincoln had been assassinated. Hostilities were resumed. 

Grant was ordered to assume the command of the army in 

, . ., North Carolina. He accepted the surrender of 
20 April. T 1- X J 1, J 1 • 

Johnston, and all troops under his command, on 

the same terms as those accorded to Lee. 

ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

82. President Lincoln had been assassinated in a 
theatre at Washington.* It was on Good Friday that 



* The assassination of President Lincoln took place at Ford's Theatre, in Washing- 
ton. He occupied a private box immediately adjoining the stage. A conspiracy had 
been formed to murder the President, the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, and Gen- 
eral Grant. Mr. Seward was sick at home. General Grant did not attend the theatre 
that evening. In prosecution of the plan, Wilkes Booth, an actor of note, and of 
diseased temperament, entered the private box and shot Mr. Lincoln from behind. 
He then leaped on the stage, exclaiming : " Sic semper tyrannis^'' the motto of the 
State of Virginia. In the leap his foot became entangled in the folds of the United 
States flag, which hung over the President's box. He fell and broke his leg. He 
contrived, however, to slip behind the scenes, mounted a horse kept in readiness, and 
made his escape in the confusion. Mr. Lincoln never spoke after receiving the fatal 
wound. He died the next morning. 

Powell, another of the conspirators, forced his way into the chamber where Mr. 
Seward lay seriously sick, and attempted to cut his throat. In the struggle the sick 
Secretary was frightfully mangled, and his son severely injured. The house was 
roused by the disturbance, and Powell fled. 



262 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

this atrocious crime was committed ; the very day on which 
An *1 S^^^"^^^ ^^<^ received Johnston's first proposals 
^ * contemplating a surrender ; only one day over 
four years after the surrender of Fort Sumter. The murder of 
Mr. Lincoln naturally excited the wildest indignation through- 
out the Northern States, and provoked unfounded charges 
against the high officials of the Confederate Government. The 
grievous crime was condemned by right-feeling men through- 
out the South. 

OVERTHROW OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 

83. Some of the Confederate officials escaped, but sev- 
eral were taken. President Davis was captured near Irwins- 
__ ville, in Georgia, and was imprisoned in Fortress 
Monroe. Alabama and Georgia were overrun by 
the cavalry of General Wilson. In the beginning of May, the 
Confederate troops east of the Mississippi surrendered to 
General Canby. The surrender of the forces west of that 
river took place at the end of the same month. All the Con- 
federate armies were thus disbanded and sent to their homes. 
They had fought a desperate and losing fight, and had earned 
from their adversaries the highest admiration. There was no 
stain on ''the Confederate banner." One who had com- 
manded the army of the Potomac, said, many years after the 
close of the war : '' Search the world over, and you will not 
find the like of them. I had the opportunity of seeing some 
of the armies of Europe since then — the French, Prussian, 
Russian, and Austrian — and I tell you, it will be down-hill 
work to fight them, compared with our late foes." * 



* Major-General Joseph Hooker. 

The total number of engagements is said to have been two hundred and fifty-two. 
Of these, eighty-nine took place in Virginia, thirty-seven in Tennessee, twenty-five in 
Missouri, twelve in Georgia, ten in South Carolina, eleven in North Carolina, seven 
in Alabama, five in Florida, fourteen in Kentucky, and one in the Indian country ;— 
seventeen of them were naval. 

In the Federal armies nearly two million seven hundred thousand men had been 
enlisted. The Federal debt at the close of the war was $2,773,000,000. The total cost 
of the war was estimated by Secretary Sherman, in 1880, at nearly $9,000,000,000. 



RE CONSTR UCTION, 



263 



OTHER IMPORTANT TRANSACTIONS. 

84. Before Mr. Lincoln's murder, the Reciprocity Treaty 
with Great Britain, permitting free trade between the United 
States and the British Provinces in North America, was ab- 

.-- . rogated. A Bureau for the protection and support 
* of the Freedmen was estabHshed. A demand was 
made upon the British Government to redress the injuries 
inflicted on American commerce by Confederate cruisers, 
bought, built, or equipped in British ports. During the 
war, the French Emperor, Louis Napoleon, had conquered 
Mexico, and placed Maximilian, an Austrian prince, upon 
the throne as Emperor. The fall of the Confederacy was 
fatal to the Empire and the Emperor. 

Reconstruction. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON.— 

1865- 1869. 

85. Andrew Johnson, 

of Tennessee, the Vice- 
President, assumed the of- 
fice of President on the 
lamentable death of Mr, 
Lincoln. 

An old Greek philoso- 
pher observed, that a "civil 
war was ruinous to both 
contending parties, and 
equally corrupting to the 
conquerors and the con- 
quered. " The War of Se- 
cession has been no excep- 
tion to the rule. 

To avoid misrepresentation and controversy, it has been 




ANDREW JOHNSON. 



264 HISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 

necessary to treat in a brief and bare manner the events of the 
war between the States. It is more needful, for the like rea- 
sons, to treat even more briefly and barely the story of more 
recent years. 

THE PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 

86. The first task of President Johnson's Adminis- 
tration was to seize and bring to justice the murderer of 
President Lincoln, and those who had attempted at the same 
time to murder Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State. J. Wilkes 

- . Booth, a fanatical actor, was the assassin of Mr. 

180^ 
y- l^ -y Lincoln. He was pursued, tracked, and overtaken 

* near Port Royal, in Virginia. He refused to sur- 
render, and was shot down. Powell, Atzerott, the innocent 
Mrs. Surratt, and others, were tried by a Military Court, con- 
demned, and hanged. 

TREATMENT OF THE CONFEDERATES. 

87. President Davis, as has been mentioned, was taken and 
imprisoned. Two years afterwards, he was released on bail, 
and has not been further prosecuted. Indictments were pro- 
posed against Generals Lee and Johnston. They were quashed 
by the intervention of General Grant. A Proclamation of 
Amnesty was issued, but fourteen classes of Confederates 

. .. were excluded from its benefits. No general Am- 
j,?, * nesty has yet been granted. The suppression of 
the Rebellion was proclaimed a year after the fall 
of Richmond. 

ATTEMPTS AT RECONSTRUCTION. 

88. The Reconstruction of the Seceding States, and 

their readmission into the Union, presented questions of man- 
ifest difficulty. They occasioned violent contention between 
the President and the extreme Republicans,* who had a large 



* Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, and Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, were 
their leaders. 



ANDREW JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 265 

majority in Congress. The President recognized the Govern- 
ment of F. H. Pierpont in Virginia, and established Provisional 
Governments in other Southern States. He was deprived of 
all power in these matters, and his policy was annulled by the 
appointment of a Joint Committee of Congress. The 
9/\f\ v^^^^'^ ^^ ^'^^ Congressional majority were displayed 
. ' .. by the continuance and enlargement of theFreed- 
^ ' men's Bureau ; by the passage of a Civil Rights 

Bill ; of bills conferring on colored persons the right to vote 
»^„ in the District of Columbia and in the Territories ; 
- ' and, at a later period, of a Fourteenth Amendment 
to the Constitution, declaring them citizens of the 
United States, and making other important regulations. 

A bill for the admission of Colorado was passed, but was 
. vetoed by the President. The vote of the Senate 

p'J^ failed to overrule the veto, and Colorado was not 
* received till ten years later. Nebraska was, how- 
ever, admitted, notwithstanding the veto of the bill. 

RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES. 

89. The frequent vetoes increased the bitterness 

with which the President was regarded by the majority in 
Congress. The ill-feeling was augmented by his violent and 
intemperate denunciation of the action of that body. His 
tRA*? power was, in consequence, crippled by the Ten- 
j * ure of Office Act, which required the consent of 
the Senate to the removal of Government officers ; 
and by placing the Southern States under military govern- 
ment. This is considered to be the beginning of the Recon- 
struction Measures. 

IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 

90. The hostihty in Congress to President Johnson 

was inflamed by his public denunciation of the majority which 
had annulled his policy and restrained his action. It was 
determined to impeach him. The first effort to do so did not 



266 IIISTOR Y OF THE UNITED STA TES. 



1868. 

26 May. 



succeed. It was done about two months later, when he at- 
tempted to remove Mr. Stanton * from the office 
of Secretary of War. The preparations for the 
impeachment and the trial occupied three months. 

The Senate acquitted Johnson by a majority of only one 

vote. 

THE TRANSATLANTIC CABLE. 

91. An Electric Cable, between Ireland and Newfound- 
,, land, was successfully laid, after four previous at- 
._ J tempts had failed. f In the same summer the 

broken cable of the previous year was recovered 
and repaired. 

EXECUTION OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN. 

92. The invasion of Mexico by the French, and the 

establishment of an Imperial Government, were regarded as a 
violation of the Monroe Doctrine. Louis Napoleon was in- 
duced to withdraw his armies, and invited the new Emperor to 
accompany them. Maximilian hesitated, and remained. He 
-., was deprived of the necessary military support. 

_ Mexico was speedily recovered by President Juarez 

19 June. ., J, s \„. ' 1 ■ J • A 

yJnva/i rez). 1 he Emperor was besieged in Quere- 

taro {kd-rd-tah'ro), betrayed, and shot with several of his chief 

officers. 

ALASKA, ST. THOMAS, AND SAMANA. 

93. Russian America was purchased, under Johnson's 
administration, for more than ^7,000,000, and was named 



* Edwin McMasters Stanton (1814-1839) was appointed Attorney-General by Pres- 
ident Buchanan in i83o, and Secretary of War by President Lincoln in 1862. He was 
suspended from office by President Johnson in 1867, and removed in 1868. He was 
nominated by President Grant Judge of the Supreme Court in i83g, and ended his 
life a very few days thereafter. 

t The first message was from Cyrus Field to President Johnson, and said : " I hope 
that it will prove a blessing to England and the United States, and increase the in- 
tercourse between our country and the eastern hemisphere.". 



ELECTION OF GENERAL GRANT, 



267 



Alaska. A treaty with Denmark, for the purchase of the isl- 
ands of St. Thomas and St. John, in the West Indies, was 
rejected by the Senate. An offer made by the Government of 
San Domingo to lease the bay of Samana to the United States, 
was, in Hke manner, refused. 

TREATIES V/ITH CHINA AND GREAT BRITAIN. 

94. A Treaty of Commerce with China was negotiated 
by Mr. Anson Buriingame, who had been appointed by that 

^^^ strange empire a strange ambassador to the 

_ * United States and to the European courts. A 

treaty was also made with Great Britain, for the 

settlement of the "Alabama Claims." It was called the 

^ Clarendon-Johnson Treaty,* from the names of its 

y negotiators. Through the exertions and influence 

* of Senator Sumner f it was rejected by the Senate, 

with only one dissenting voice, in the second month of the 

next administration. 

ELECTION OF GENERAL GRANT. 

95. A Presidential Election followed the impeachment 
of President Johnson. The Democrats nominated as their 
candidates Horatio Seymour, of New York, and General 
Francis P. Blair, of Missouri. The Republican nominees were 
elected. They were General Ulysses S. Grant, and Schuyler 
Colfax, of Indiana. No election was held in Virginia, Texas, 
and Mississippi ; and Georgia's vote was left in dispute. 

THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT. 

96. A Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was 



* The Clarendon- Johnson Treaty was negotiated in London by the Earl of Claren-. 
don and the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, special ambassador to Great Britain. 

+ Charles Sumner (1811-1874), of Massachusetts, was elected in 1841 successor to 
Daniel Webster in the United States Senate. He was struck down in his seat by 
Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, in 1856, and did not resume his place till four 
years after. 



268 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



adopted by Congress, ten days before the end of Johnson's 
Administration. It was afterwards accepted as an 
addition to the Constitution. It extended the right 
of voting to all citizens, without regard to " race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude." Other amendments 
have since been proposed, but have not met with favor. 



1869. 
23 Feb. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL GRANT.— 
1869-1873. 

97. The two successive administrations of Presi- 
dent Grant were occupied 
v/ith the process of Recon- 
struction. They were 
marked by frequent dis- 
turbances in the Southern 
States. These were aggra- 
vated by the endeavor to 
suppress them by special 
legislation, by Federal in- 
terference, and by military 
rule. As is usual in the 
heat of political controv- 
ersy, and as is habitual 
after civil wars, embezzle- 
ments and corruptions of 




ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



all kinds were believed to be frequent. 

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

98. The completion of the Pacific Railroad, which 
crossed the Continent from the Missouri to San Francisco, 
rendered notable the first months of Grant's pres- 



1869. 
10 May. 



idency. The first charter for its construction had 
been accorded nearly seven years before,* during 
the War of Secession. 



* The original charter for the Pacific Railroad was granted ist July, 1862. The last 
spike, completing the road, was driven 10th May, 1S69. The first project of a trans- 



RESTORATION OF ALL THE STATES. 269 



FINANCIAL PANIC. 

99. Great financial distress, though mainly confined to 

brokers and speculators, was occasioned by the sud- 

_ ^\ den rise, and still more sudden fall, in New York, 
2'2 Seot 
*^ *^ * of the premium on gold. The day of the greatest 

fluctuation and panic was called Black Friday. 

DEATH OF GEORGE PEABODY. 

100. The death of the wealthy and beneficent George Pea- 
body,* an American banker in London, deserves to be noted, 
on account of the extent of his liberalities, the judgment with 
which they were bestowed, and the national honors accorded 
to his remains. Besides numerous other benefactions of large 
amount, he gave three millions and a half for the education of 
the poorer classes in the Southern States, without distinction 
of color. 

RESTORATION OF ALL THE STATES. 

loi. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas were restored 

to their position as States of the Union in 1870 ; but Georgia 
was excluded for some time longer. The Fifteenth Amend- 
ment was adopted by the end of March, being made a condi- 
tion for the readmission of the Southern States. With the re- 
admission of Georgia, the process of Reconstruction was nom- 
inally complete. The discords excited by it still continue. 

continental railroad was broached by Asa Whitney, in the beginning of 1845. He 
presented his scheme to Congress, with a petition for a grant of lands along the right 
of way. 

* George Peabody (i795-i8''9), of Massachusetts, was a poor boy. In 1837 he estab- 
lished himself in London as a banker, and resided there till his death. He gave 
$250,000 to the Peabody Institute and Library of his native town, Danvers, and 
$1,400,000 to the Peabody Library at Baltimore. In 1862 and subsequent years he 
bestowed, in London, $^,500,000, for the erection of model lodging-houses for work- 
people. In acknowledgment of this benevolence. Queen Victoria offered him a bar- 
onetcy, or the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. The offer was declined. To 
Harvard College he gave $150,000, and the same sum to Yale. His gifts to public 
objects amounted to eight millions and a half of dollars, while his bequests to his rela- 
tives reached five millions. His remains were conveyed across the Atlantic by ves- 
sels of the British and the American navies. 



270 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

FOREIGN INTERESTS. 

102. Attention was attracted to Foreign Affairs by 

^ the Fenian* invasion of Canada, and by the en- 

M * deavor of the Administration to secure the annexa- 
tion of the Repubhc of San Domingo. The treaty 
for the latter purpose was rejected by the Senate. 

THE CENSUS.-THE DEBT. 

103. The Census of 1S70 reported the population of the 
United States to be thirty-eight million five hundred and fifty- 
eight thousand three hundred and seventy-one. The country 
was prosperous, and was recovering from the effects of the 
late war. The national debt was reduced about two hundred 
millions of dollars, and the currency had risen in value till it 
was only ten per cent, below par. 

THE HIGH JOINT COMMISSION. 

104. The relations with England continued to be 
very unsatisfactory. The " Alabama Claims " remained 
unsettled in consequence of the repudiation of the Clarendon- 
Johnson Treaty. To restore tranquillity and friendship, a 

High Joint Commission f of United States and 
^ * British Plenipotentiaries assembled in Washington, 

and, after a discussion of more than two months, 
negotiated a treaty, by which the various matters in dispute 
were referred to an International Board of Arbitration. The 
treaty was earnestly debated in the Senate, but was accepted. 



* The Fenian Brotherhood was a secret org^anization of Irishmen in the United 
States, in Ireland, and elsewhere, to overthrow the British rule in Ireland. Its origin 
is traced from the " Emmet Monument Association " of 1857. The society was re- 
organized in 1865, and received numbeis and energy from the Irish soldiers of the 
Federal armies in the war 

tThe Joint High Commission met 27th February, 1871. The treaty of Washington 
was signed 8th May, and ratified by the Senate 24th May. The Geneva Tribunal as- 
sembled 15th December, and adjourned to 15th July, 1872 It broke up, 14th Septcmbci. 
The American claims amounted to $15,502,^00, even after the withdrawal of indirect 
damages. 



GENEVA TRIBUNAL. 27 1 



THE GENEVA TRIBUNAL. 

105. The Tribunal was appointed to meet at Ge- 
neva, in Switzerland.* It met, but adjourned in consequence 
of extravagant demands put forward by the United States. 
These demands were withdrawn. When the Tribunal re- 
assembled, it awarded $15,500,000 to the United States, for 
damages inflicted by the Alaba?na and other Confederate 
cruisers. This heavy indemnity was promptly paid by Great 
Britain. 

THE HALIFAX FISHERY COMMISSION. 

106. Trie Treaty of Washington provided for an- 
other Commission,! to determine the amount to be paid 
to the British Provinces of North America for the use of the 
fisheries along their coasts. This Commission met some years 
later at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and fixed the sum at $5,- 
500,000. This award was reluctantly paid under the Presi- 
dency of Mr. Hayes, and was accompanied with a protest. 
The same treaty referred to the Emperor of Germany the dis- 
puted boundary line of Oregon, through the Straits of Fuca. 
His decision sustained the claim of the United States.J 

COREA AND JAPAN. ^ 

107. Hostile operations were undertaken against a rude pop- 
ulation on the north-east coast of Asia. Five strongholds of 
Corea were stormed by detachments from United States ves- 

« sels in the Pacific. A large and splendid embassy 

2 March ^^^^^^"^ ^^^"^ Japan, and succeeded in establish- 

* ing very cordial relations with the United States. 

It was the first Japanese embassy sent to any civilized power. 

* The arbitrators composinf^ the Geneva Tribunal were : Sir Alexander Cock- 
burn for Great Britain, Charles Francis Adams for the United States, Count Sclopis 
for Italy, Ex-President Staempfli for Switzerland, and Baron Itajuba for Brazil. 

t The Halifax Fishery Commission met and made its award in 1877. 

X The decision, rendered in 1872, gave the island of San Juan to the United States. 



2 72 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



GREAT FIRES. 

108. The great and prosperous city of Chicago was ravaged 
by a fearful conflagration.* The flames desolated five square 

^ miles in the heart of the town. Nearly twenty 

* thousand buildings were destroyed. Two hundred 
and fifty persons perished. One hundred thou- 
sand were left destitute. The destruction of property was es- 
timated at two hundred millions of dollars. In the same month 
of October, consuming fires swept over wide tracts in Wiscon- 
sin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa. High winds increased 
the extent and the fury of the flames, Avhich spread over three 
thousand square miles, and cost two thousand lives. The 
magnitude of these calamities excited large generosity. Great 
(Contributions for the relief of the sufferers poured in from the 
East, from Europe, and from other quarters of the globe. In 
the very next year, Boston was visited with a similar affliction, 
and property worth nearly one hundred millions of dollars was 
destroyed. 

THE KU-KLUX KL.AN. 

109. A Strange, secret, and undiscoverable body, called the 
Ku-Klux Klan,t excited much alarm among the freedmen 
of the more Southern States, and provoked rigorous proceed- 
ings on the part of the majority in Congress. The Military 
Enforcement Act was the most stringent of these measures. 

THE FRAUDS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 

iio. The period of Reconstruction was marked 
throughout by disgraceful frauds, corruptions, and plunder, 
in high and low positions ; by embezzlements of all sorts in 
connection with public, corporate, and private enterprises. 



* There was a second fire of Chicag-o, 17th September, 1873. The great fire of Bos- 
ton raged 6th to jith November, 1872. 

t The first official mention of the Ku-Klux Klan is believed to have been made in 
Alabama, by Judge Busteed, in 1871. 



POLITICAL VIOLENCE. 273 

The most startling of these peculations occurred in the city- 
government of New York. The debt was increased to nearly 
$100,000,000, and vast sums were divided among a few offi- 
cials. The enormity of the offences at last provoked resist- 
ance. The chief criminals escaped without due restitution, or 
due punishment.* 

POLITICAL VIOLENCES. 

111. Serious troubles and violences attended the elec- 
tion for Governor in the States of Arkansas and Louisiana. 

J. The disturbances were repressed for a time by the 

intervention of the United States troops. In Louis- 
iana, there were two rival Governors, two rival sets of State 
officials, two rival Legislatures. Fighting took place in the 
streets of New Orleans. The difficulties lasted for two years. 
The Federal authorities, the army, and Congress sustained the 
Republican claimants, and, at length, the Democratic State 
Government submitted to Federal coercion. 

THE GRANGERS. 

112. The agricultural community of the West instituted an 
organized opposition to railroad charges, the alleged oppres- 
sion of corporations and capitalists, and the profits of middle- 
men, or intermediate traders. The association assumed the 
name of Patrons of Husbandry, but was commonly termed 
the Grangers.! It spread rapidly from the West to other 
parts of the Union. It soon became connected with the 
Greenback Party, which desired an increase of the paper 
currency of the Government, and its substitution for gold and 
silver, in public and private transactions. 



* Resistance to the " Tweed Ring Frauds" was inaugurated 4th September, 1871. 

+ The " Grangers " were a secret society of farmers and others, devised and organ- 
ized in 1867-8, by Wm. Saunders, a Scotchman, Superintendent of the ('.ardens of the 
Agricultural Department at Washington. The first National Grange Convention 
was held nth April, 1871. 

12* 



2 74 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



REELECTION OF GENERAL GRANT. 

113. General Grant was reelected President, with 
Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, as Vice-President. They had 
been opposed by Horace Greeley, of New York, and B. Gratz 
Brown, of Missouri, botli Liberal RepubHcans, who had been 
accepted by the Democrats, from their disposition to support 
"anything to beat Grant." The opposition proved as unsat- 
isfactory and futile as it was devoid of political principle. 
Grant received two hundred and eighty-six electoral votes out 
of the three hundred and forty-nine counted. Greeley died in 
less than a month after the election. * 



THE SECOND TERM OF GRANT'S ADMINISTRA- 
TION. 1873-1877. 

114. Grant's second administration continued and 
aggravated the tendencies of the first, and left them less under 
restraint than before. 

THE SALARY GRAB. 

115. As the First Term was drawing to a close, the salary 
of the President was increased to $50,000 a year, and 

the pay of Members of Congress to $7,000. This measure was 
called the Salary Grab. Several members refused to profit 
by the increase. So much indignation was excited by it, that 
the Act was speedily repealed, except with respect to the Pres- 
ident's salary. 

THE COLLAPSE OF BUSINESS. 

116. A disastrous financial crash occurred in the first au- 



* Horace Grcelej^ (1811-1872) was remarkable for earnestness, simplicity, sincerity, 
and personal integrity. He was brought up in the utmost indigence. After editing 
many papers, he established the daily Tribune., loth April, 1841. With it his name, 
his fortunes, and his influence, were ever after identified. Mr. Greeley became, at 
his own request, one of the securities on the bail bond of President Davis, May, 1867, 
and by that magnanimous conduct sacrificed the prospect of election as United States 
Senator from New York. 



THE MODOC WAR. 275 

tumn. The decline in the price of gold, with the rise in the 
value of the Government paper, the excessive de- 
j. Of velopment of speculative enterprises, the accumu- 
lation of debt, and the general fall of prices, occa- 
sioned a ruinous crisis in all business transactions. The finan- 
cial distress spread over the whole country, and extended to 
Europe. The decay of manufactures, the arrest of railroad 
construction, and stagnation in all forms of industry followed, 
and continued for six years. 

THE MODOC WAR. 

117. The Modoc Indians had stirred up a troublesome lit- 
tle war on the northern border of California, and in Southern 
Oregon. They acquired sudden notoriety by the murder of 
General Canby, and some of his companions, at a confer- 
ence.* They were with difficulty dislodged from their camp 
in the lava-beds. Captain Jack and three others were hanged. 
The rest were sent east of the Rocky Mountains, and scat- 
tered among the Dakotahs. 

THE VIRGINIUS. 

118. An American steam-vessel, the Virginius, conveying 
volunteers and munitions of war to the insurgents in Cuba,f 
was captured by the Spanish man-of-war, To-nado. Capt. 

g Fry and many of the officers and passengers of the 

OrV P^^^'^ y<^xQ hastily tried by court-martial and shot. 
The United States assumed a warlike attitude, re- 
ceived an extraordinary grant of $4,000,000 for the navy, 
and assembled a fleet on the coast of Florida. Spain con- 
ceded nearly all demands. The Vi?-gi/iiits was surrendered, 
and lost on the homeward voyage. 

* General Canby was murdered nth April, 1S73. Captain Jack was hanged 3d 
October. 

+ An extensive insurrection, or attempt at revolution, had broken out in Cuba 
soon after the Spanish Revolution of i863. It is not yet entirely suppressed (1882). 



276 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



FINANCIAL CONDITION. 



119. The receipts of the general Government, in the 

year of the crash, were more than $35,000,000 below its ex- 
penditures. Yet neither pubUc nor private calamity arrested 
extravagance. During a single year of " the hard times," 
cigars of the value of $20,000,000, and liquors estimated at 
$500,000,000, were consumed. 

The Currency Question presented itself in many forms. 
It inspired new parties, and deranged old ones, for years. 
When the great fall in the value of silver with relation to gold 
began, it became the Silver Question. It was then pro- 
posed to enforce by legislation the acceptance of silver, at the 
old, or a new, fixed value, in the settlement of all debts. An 
Act of 1877, requiring a large and continued coinage of silver, 
has only filled the vaults of the Treasury with '^ the Dollar of 
the Fathers," which no one prefers to bank-notes. The ques- 
tion of the commercial relations of the precious metals remains 
still undetermined. 

RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. 

120. More important than these monetary controversies was 

the passage of a Bill for the Resumption of 
y ■ Specie Payments on the New- Year's Day of 
* 1879. The measure was effectually accomplished. 
It caused multitudinous business failures as the time ap- 
proached. 

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS. 

121. The anniversary of the meeting of the first 
Revolutionary Congress began the long series of Centen- 
nial Celebrations of Revolutionary events, which will scarcely 
be allowed to close with the inauguration of Washington. 
The Centennial Celebration of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was associated with an International Exhibition at Phil- 



A THIRD TERM. 277 

adelphia. It was conducted with great energy and success. 
The Exposition was opened by President Grant, in the pres- 
ence of the Emperor and Empress of Brazil, the first reigning 
sovereigns ever in the United States. 

THE BELKNAP IMPEACHMENT. 

122. The Centennial spring witnessed the Impeachment 
of Belknap, the Secretary of War — one of the President's 

- , personal friends. He was charged wij;h corruption 
__ * in office, and appeared from his own admissions 
to have received large sums of money on account 
of appointments made by him. He resigned his seat in the 
Cabinet. He was acquitted, as more than one-third of the 
Senators declared him " not guilty," chiefly on the ground that 
he was not liable to impeachment after having become a pri- 
vate citizen by the resignation of his office. 

THE WHISKEY RINGS. 

123. General Babcock, another of Grant's favorites, had 
been tried in the close of the preceding year for his supposed 
connection with extensi;^e frauds practised by the ^* Whis- 
key Rings." Several other persons, many of them of con- 
siderable wealth, and of political or social influence, were 
brought to trial for these frauds upon the revenue. Some were 
condemned to the penitentiary ; some compounded for their 
misdemeanors by heavy payments. Babcock was acquitted. 

A THIRD TERM. 

124. These exposures damaged Grant's prospects 

of election for a third term as President. The design seems 
to have been long contemplated by his most earnest support- 
ers. There was nothing in the Constitution or the laws which 
forbade indefinite reelection. The practice of restricting the 
office to tv/o terms rested upon the example of Washington and 
Jefferson. There was strong repugnance to the violation of 
long custom, even within the Republican ranks. A resolution 



278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

prohibiting a third term was approved by a majority in the 
lower House of Congress.""' 

SIOUX WAR. 

125. A war with the Sioux {soo) arrested attention by the 
, bloody disaster which befell a body of United States 

_' * troops. General Custer, with five companies of 
* cavalry, rashly attacked a superior force of Indians, 
in Montana Territory. He was cut off, with his whole imme- 
diate command. The dashing general had neglected ordinary 
precautions. 

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 

126. The Presidential Election towards the close of 
Grant's second term will always be memorable for its violent 
contentions, its intrigues, corruptions, frauds, its extraordinary 
procedures, and its issue. The Democratic nominees were 
Tilden, of New York, and Hendricks, of Indiana. The Re- 
pubHcan candidates were Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and 
Wm. A. Wheeler, of New York. The controversy and struggle 
between the rival claims occupied the remainder of Grant's 
administration. 

GRANT'S LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 

127. Grant's last Annual Message opened with a 
rapid biographical sketch of himself, and with the confes- 
sion of his want of political knowledge. It then stated the 
reduction of $300,000,000 in the taxes during his adminis- 
tration, and of $450,000,000 in the national debt. In the 
same period, a saving of $30,000,000 annually had been effected 
in the interest on the debt. A favorable change, to the extent 
of $250,000,000 in the year, had been reached in the course of 
foreign trade. The admission of Colorado, "" the Centennial 



* John Q. Adams was apprehensive of a third term for General Jackson. John Tyler 
spoke of the possibility of three terms for himself. It may have been in jest. He 
did not regard as a term that to which he succeeded as Vice-President after 
Harrison's death. 



GRANT'S LAST AN X UAL MESSAGE. 279 

State," was recorded, and previous recommendations of the 
annexation of San Domingo were repeated. 

The message called the attention of Congress, also, '' to the 
necessity of throwing some greater safeguard over the method 
of choosing and declaring the election of a President. 

128. There was urgent necessity for the prompt 
action of Congress, to avert unseemly collisions and the 
hazard of a new civil war. The electoral votes of four States 
were in dispute : South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Ore- 
gon. Double returns had been received from them ; one set 
announcing Democratic, the other. Republican electors. If the 
Democratic return was accepted, Tildcn was elected by thirty- 
seven votes ; if the Republican, Hayes was elected by one vote. 

129. The Republicans were in power, and held all the 
offices of Government. The Vice-President /r<? tem.^ the pre- 
siding officer of the Senate, was a Republican. He was sus- 
tained by his party in claiming the right to decide between 
the lists of the State Electors. This would assure the elec- 
tion of Hayes. The Democrats, who had a majority on joint 
ballot in Congress, denied the claim of the acting Vice-Presi- 
dent, and insisted that the determination rested with the joint 
assembly of the two Houses of Congress. This would give 
the Presidency to Tilden. The view of the Vice-President 
was upheld by the President and his Cabinet. A large body 
of troops was collected in Washington and its neighborhood, 
to be ready for any contingency. 

THE JOINT ELECTORAL COMMISSION. 

130. Congress appointed an Extraordinary Com- 
mission to decide the contested issues of the recent election. 
This afforded a peaceful escape from the grave perils in pros- 
pect.* 

The Joint Electoral Commission was instituted after 



* The members of the Joint Electoral Commission were : Edmunds, Morton, Fre- 
linghuyscn, Thurman, Bayard, of the Senate ; Payne, Hunton, Abbott, Hoar, and 
Garfield, of the House ; and five Associate Justices of the Supreme Court : Clifford, 
Miller, Fields. Strong, and Bradley— the last selected by his fellow-judges. 



!8o 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



long debates, and tedious investigations into the functions of 

the Vice-President. The electoral votes of Florida, 

/ '* Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon were ac- 
oj Jan 

i. * corded to the Republican candidates. The de- 

' * cision was accepted as better than the contin- 

uance of hazardous discords. Hayes and Wheeler were de- 
clared President and Vice-President by the majority of one 
electoral vote. 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 
— 1877-1881. 

131. The administration of Mr. Hayes was not dis- 
tinguished by " moving 
incidents by flood and 
field." Ithaditsfullshare 
of important events, but 
they were not such as to 
excite general or perma- 
nent interest. The Gov- 
ernment pursued *' the 
even tenor of its way," 
maintaining order and 
domestic peace. It mer- 
ited respect, rather than 
won admiration. 

RETURN OF PROS- 
PERITY. 
RUTHERFORD B. HAVES. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^f 

the new administration was paralyzed, to a great ex- 
tent, by the difficulties of its position. It could attempt little 
in the midst of continued political discords. It afforded, 
however, repose to the country, allowed attention to be di- 
rected to material interests, and was cheered by the return of 
enterprise, prosperity, and the increase of good-will. The 
abundant harvests of the United States, the deficient crops of 




IVITJIDRAWAL OF TROOPS FROM THE SOUTH. 281 

Europe, the war between Russia and Turkey, and other fav- 
oring circumstances, promoted healthy progress. The ad- 
ministration of Mr. Hayes began in gloom, depression, and 
distrust. It closed with a large increase of public wealth and 
welfare, and with the successful accomplishment of one of the 
most arduous financial operations of our times. 

133. The principal topics which claim attention during these 
four years are : 

The withdrawal of the military from the Southern States. 

The labor riots in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and elsewhere. 

The recoinage of silver dollars. 

The yellow-fever epidemic, and the National Sanitary Com- 
mission. • 

The resumption of specie payments. 

The conflict between the President and the majority in 
Congress over the appropriation bills. 

The refunding of the national debt at a reduced rate of in- 
terest. 

The Presidential election, towards the close of the term ; and 

The vast increase of the population. 

THE WITHDRAWAL. OK THE TROOPS FROM THE 
SOUTHERN STATES. 

134. President Hayes withdrew the United States 
troops from South Carolina and Louisiana in the second 
month of his administration. In both States there were rival 
Legislatures and contending claimants for the Governorship 
and other State offices. There had been, for some months, 
danger of violent collisions in both. These had been avoided 
by the moderation and discretion of the Democratic chiefs, 
and by the orders given to the commanders of the United 
States forces. General Grant had shown a disposition to re- 
move the troops. He left this duty to be executed by his suc- 
cessor. As soon as it was done, the Democratic Governors, — 
General Wade Hampton in South Carolina, and General 
Nicholls in Louisiana — were inaugurated. General Hampton 



282 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



had borne himself with singular prudence, self-restraint, and 
courage throughout the perilous contest. 



TRAMPS AND LABOR RIOTS. 

135. The panic of i873,and the long depression of industry 
consequent upon it, had thrown multitudes out of employment, 
reduced the wages of the operatives still employed, and caused 

extensive and enduring 
distress. Active labor- 
ers could find nothing 
for willing hands to do. 
Families hungered, and 
thirsted, and shivered ; 
children perished from 
want and misery. Men 
wandered from place to 
place, and from State to 
State> seeking occupation 
and subsistence. There 
was no work for them. 
Idlers and vagrants of all 
sorts — a growing horde 
of '' sturdy beggars " — 
used the pretext of this distress, swarmed through, the coun- 
try, and resorted to threats, to violence, and to crime. The 
designation of " Tramps " was given indiscriminately to the 
honest and the vicious, who roved through the land seeking 
work or asking charity. 

136. The grievous stagnation of industry engendered a bitter 
feehng between employers and employed, which was especially 
virulent against wealthy capitalists and large corporations. 
The feeling broke out into alarming violence, and occasioned 
much destruction of property during the first summer of the 
Hayes administration. Railroad riots, occurring almost sim- 
ultaneously, and apparently by concert, produced sudden con- 




WADE HAMPTON. 



RECOINAGE OF SILVER DOLLARS. 283 

sternation in the Northern and Western States. They were 
most formidable in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. 
The trains were stopped, the railroads were torn up, the roll- 
ing stock overturned or demolished. The strike, and the in- 
terruption of travel and transportation, stretched from New 
England to the Mississippi. The disturbances did not prevail 
south of the Potomac. The wildest lawlessness and the most 
o^yj serious mischief occurred at Pittsburg, where 
L" . railroad property to the amount of eight or ten 
millions of dollars was destroyed. The militia 
was called out, and detachments from the regular army were 
sent to their support. Quiet was not restored for some weeks. 

RECOINAGE OF SILVER DOLLARS. 

137. The enormous increase of silver from the Com- 
stock Lode in Nevada, and from other mines in the Rocky 
Mountains, concurrent with the diminution of the gold returns 
from California and Australia, and with other causes, deranged 
the familiar relations of value between the two precious metals. 
A dollar in silver became worth little more than eighty-five 
cents in gold. This decline aggravated the difficulties of all 
debtors, whether communities or individuals, and increased 
the embarrassments of the period of depression. Various 
measures of relief, by tampering with the currency, were 
eagerly welcomed. Each became the watchword of a party 
or a faction. The last delusion was to raise silver to the value 
of gold by legislation. The popular current in favor of " the 

J. J. Dollar of the Fathers " became so strong, especially 

o L', in the Western States, that the Bland Silver Bill 
28 Feb. , , ' . , , ,. . , 

was passed, over the Presidents veto, directmg the 

recoinage of the cumbrous silver dollar in large amounts, and 

making it a legal tender.* 

THE VELLOW FEVER. 

138. The yellow-fever epidemic, during the summer 



* The silver legislation continues to be a matter of controversy (October, 1885). 



284 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of 1878, will long be remembered for its wide-spread ravages 
and for the generous liberality and heroic devotion displayed. 
The mortality was, perhaps, not as great as it had been in 
some localities on former occasions, but its fury extended over 
a wider region than ever before, and attention was more closely 
directed to its progress. The stoppage of business, the arrest 
of industry, and the consequent destitution of families, in- 
flicted scarcely less suffering than the plague itself. The over- 
whelming affliction was solaced by a beautiful manifestation 
of benevolence. Physicians and nurses flocked into the sorely 
stricken cities from all parts of the country. The contribu- 
tions of money, medicines, and supplies filled the mails and 
blocked the railroads. 

THE NATIONAL SANITARY COMMISSION. 

139. This fearful pestilence attracted the attention of phy- 
sicians and other intelligent men to the search for means of 
preventing its recurrence or arresting its spread. On the 
recommendation of medical associations, and other public 

^ bodies, Congress was induced to appoint a Na- 

-^ \^ tional Sanitary Commission for the purpose 
* of making investigations, collecting intelligence, 
giving timely warning of danger, and directing such precau- 
tionary measures as might be found expedient. Three sum- 
mers passed without the return of yellow fever in an epidemic 
form. 

RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENT. 

140. The payment of specie in exchange for notes was re- 
_ sumed on the day appointed four years before. 

/v- rpj^^ return to gold and silver coin, after the sus- 

I Jan. r 1 r • 1 

pension of their use for eighteen years, was accom- 
plished without disturbance, and almost without observation. 
Preparations had been diligently made for the event. The 
operation had been begun by the free issue of silver dollars in 
the close of the preceding year. 



THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 



REFUNDINO OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. 



285 



141. The hope of diminishing the volume, and of 

lowering the interest of the national debt, was encouraged by 
the successful resumption of specie payments. The debt still 
amounted to about twenty-three hundred millions of dollars. 
Five hundred millions had been paid since the summer of 
1869. A large part of the bonds at a higher rate of interest 
had been converted into four-per-cent. bonds. The process 
was continued during this administration. In the beginning 
of the next, a vast amount of indebtedness was exchanged 
for bonds bearing only three and a half per cent, interest. 

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 

142. The effort made in the Chicago convention to secure 
the renomination of General Grant for the Presidency, as 
the Republican candidate, was the only other event of note 
under Hayes' administration. The obstinate struggle was begun 
with the confidence of success. It ended in disappointment. 
The third term project was again defeated. The Republicans 
selected General James A. Garfield,* of Ohio, as their nominee. 
Chester A. Arthur, of New York, was accepted as the candi- 
date for the Vice-Presidency. They were fortunately elected 
by a majority which left no room for dispute. The Demo- 
cratic nominees were General Winfield S. Hancock, of the 
United States Army, and William O. English, of Indiana. 



* General James Abram Garfield (1831-188 1) was born in a log cabin, in Orange, 
Cayuga County, Ohio, fifteen miles from Mentor. His parents were poor, laboring 
people, of tlic class of small farmers. He began his school life at three years of age. 
He went to Hiram College in 1851. In 1856. having been graduated with honor at 
Williams College, he returned to Hiram as instructor, and, in 1857, became its Presi- 
dent. In 1859 he was elected State Senator, and began his law studies. 

In August. 1861, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-second 
Ohio Volunteers. He was present at the battle of Chickamauga. His military career 
ended shortly afterwards by his election as a member of Congress. 

In 1877 he was a member of the Electoral Commission. He was elected to succeed 
Thurman,as Senator from Ohio, but never took his seat, having been nominated and 
elected as the Republican candidate for the Presidency. 



286 



HISrORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



THE TENTH CENSUS. 

143. The census of 1880 showed that the population had 
risen to fifty million one hundred and fifty-five thousand seven 
hundred and seventy-three, an increase in ten years of nearly 
twelve millions, or almost thirty-three percent. The continu- 
ance of the like rate of progress would give the United States 
about ninety millions of inhabitants by the close of the century. 
Such an increase can scarcely be expected, as the census of 
1870 was confessedly erroneous, thus enlarging the numbers 
apparently added during the last decade 



THE ADMINISTRATION- OF GENERAL JAMES A. 
GARFIELD.— 1881. 

144. The administration of General Garfield lasted 
not much over half a year, and during more than a third of the 

time he was slowly dying. 
The shortness of the 
period has left little to 
be recorded, except his 
mournful , and violent 
death. He was welcomed 
as President with general 
good- will, and hopes were 
entertained of a benefi- 
cent administration, and 
of the extinction of poli- 
^'~ tical asperities. Hopes 

^ ^^^ crushed in the bud pro- 

^ ~ ^^^=V-'' voke deep regrets, and 

JAMES A. GARFIELD. sanguiuc convictions of 

the blessings that might have been. 

DEFEAT OF THE REFUNDING BILL. 

145. A bill to refund the bonds of the Government 

at the reduced interest of three per cent, was defeated by the 




GA Rl' I ELD'S A SSA SSINA TIOiV. 287 

concerted hostility of the banks, and of the executive authori- 
ties. Mr. Windom, the new Secretary of the Treasury, boldly 
and successfully accomplished the conversion of a large 
amount of the debt into bonds bearing only three and a half 
per cent, interest. 

THE ^A^AR BETWEEN CHILI AND PERU. 

146. An angry war in South America resulted in the 
complete overthrow and occupation of Peru by the Chilian 
army. The Peruvian President was driven into remote and 
inaccessible parts of the republic. The Government was 
broken up. Lima {lee ma), the capital, was held by the vic- 
tors. Mr. Blaine, the Secretary of State, endeavored to inter- 
pose for the restoration of peace. Pie contemplated a more 
resolute policy than had hitherto prevailed in regard to the 
republics of the Southern Continent and to the Isthmus of 
Panama. 

ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 

147. President Garfield was shot and fatally wounded 
in a railroad depot in Washington.* He lingered for ten 
weeks. The indignation, distress, and sympathy excited by 
the crime were manifest from the inquiries and messages made 
by the sovereigns and princes, the cabinets and public bodies 
of all parts of the world. 

The murder had been committed by Guiteau (g7iee-to'),\ 
a disappointed office-seeker, a man of weak and distempered 
mind, of unregulated life, and of violent passions. He was 
found guilty, after a long trial, and was sentenced to be 
hanged. 



* President Garfield was shot in the Baltimore and Potomac Depot, 2d July, 1881. 
He died 19th September, after great suffering. 

A subscription, exceeding §300,000, was raised for Mrs. Garfield ; and another, for 
a monument to the murdered President, of §250.000. 

t Charles J. Guiteau was a lawyer of Chicago, of French descent, but American 
uirth. His execution took place 30th June, 1882. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION AT YORKTOWN. 

148. The hundredth anniversary of the surrender 

of Cornwallis was commemorated in the autumn 
xooj.. q£ ^j^jg yg^j. I^y ^ national celebration at Yorktown, 
19 UCt. j^ ^^,^g conducted under the auspices of a Con- 
gressional Committee. Delegates from the Republic of 
France, and the descendants, or representatives, of Lafayette, 
Rochambeau, and Steuben, were present as the guests of the 
Government. A handsome monument was erected by order 
of Congress. 



A CENTURY OF INDEPENDENCE, 1781-1881. 




149. The Yorktown celebration 
marked the completion of a cen- 
tury of independence, and suggests a retrospect of the 
progress made during this period. 

Less than three hundred years ago, a few scattered settle- 
ments had been the beginning of English colonization. The 
colonies grew strong in hardship, peril, and neglect. They 
learnt self-reliance, and gained independence after a stubborn 
and doubtful warfare. The new nationahty increased in 
numbers, influence, and wealth. 



TERKI TOR V A ND POP ULA TION. 2 89 

TERRITORY AND POPULATION. 

150. A narrow strip of land along the Atlantic shore, from 
Nova Scotia to Florida, sparsely inhabited, and dotted here 
and there by a few small cities, has been expanded till it fills 
the breadth of the continent, and reaches from the endur- 
ing snow and ice of Alaska and the wintry plains of Dakotah 
to the almost tropical realm of Florida and Southern California. 
A territory, largely estimated at the close of the Revolution as 
embracing eight hundred thousand square miles, most of it 
still in the occupation of the Indians, has more than quadru- 
pled in size (three million six hundred and three thousand 
eight hundred and forty-four).* A population, still more lib- 
erally estimated at three millions, has grown with such rapidity 
that it now exceeds fifty millions.f There are now thirty-five 
cities numbering over fifty thousand inhabitants, ten of them 
containing more than two hundred thousand, while New York, 
with its coronet of surrounding cities, has nearly reached two 
millions. 

WEALTH. 

151. The wealth of the country has increased even 
more surprisingly. | A national debt of $54,000,000, at the 
close of the Revolution, produced consternation, and threat- 
ened ruin to the new Republic. A debt of $2,700,000,000 was 
borne with little grumblmg at the end of the War of Seces- 
sion. In sixteen years this debt has been reduced to half its 
cost, and less than three-quarters of its volume. There was 
no coinage till after the Revolution. The amount of money 
coined in 1879, 1880, and 1881 exceeded $250,000,000. The 



* The settled area in 1790 was 239,935 square miles. It is now 1,569,570. The pop- 
ulation was 3,929,214. It has increased to 50,155,783. The average density of inhab- 
itants was at the former period 16.4 to the square mile ; on the present larger area 
it is 32. 

t This vast increase of population is largely due to the arrival in the United States 
of more than eleven millions of foreign immigrants between 1789 and 1880. 

X The wealth of the United States is supposed to exceed that of any other nation. 
It has been estimated at $45,955,800,000, while that of Great Britain has been put at 
$42,204,800,000. Such calculations are conjectural and uncertain. 



290 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



paper money in circulation was over $700,000,000 in the last 
of those years. 

INDUSTRY AND TRADE. 

152. The volume of the circulation in paper and specie is 
evidence of the magnitude and activity of business opera- 
tions. Agriculture, manufactures, and the exchange of com- 
modities, by domestic and foreign trade, have assumed vast 
proportions. They have called new arts into existence, and 

so improved older 
arts and processes as 
to give them the char- 
acter of novel inven- 
tions. 

The production of 
Indian corn in 1880 
approached two thou- 
sand millionsof bush- 
els, while that of 
wheat was nearly five 
hundred millions of 




GRAIN ELEVATORS. 



bushels.* In 



1789 



the imports were valued at $23,000,000, and the exports of 
domestic products at nearly $20,000,000. In 1881 the im- 
ports were almost $730,000,000, and the domestic exports 
not far from $850,000,000. 



STEAM AND ELECTRICITY. 



153* AH transactions have been quickened by the net-work 
of telegraphic lines and of railroads, linking together the re- 
motest parts of the country, f The manifold applications of 



* Among the modern appliances for handling such immense quantities of grain, 
are the Elevators, which are huge buildings containing facilities for storage and for 
the transferring of the grain to or from boats or cars. 

t In 1881 the telegraph lines of the United States attained the length of one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand miles, in addition to railway, government, and private lines. 

The lines of railroad amounted to ninety-three thousand six hundred and sixty-nine 



STEAM AND ELECTRICITY. 29 1 

Steam and electricity to the service of daily life have all been 
subsequent to the Treaty of Paris. Now fields are ploughed 
and harvests are threshed by steam, and every industrial pro- 
cess avails itself, directly or indirectly, of its gigantic powers. 
The land and the water, continents, oceans, lakes, and rivers 
are traversed by its agency, and it is employed as the motive 
power of complex machinery in crushing rocks and in sawing 
fire-wood. 

The almost instantaneous conveyance of intelligence by the 
electric telegraph — in a large measure an American invention 
— is not older than the living generation. Still more recently, 
electricity has given us the telephone, and that most marvel- 
lous of instruments, the phonograph,* both of them fruits of 
American ingenuity. 

INVENTIONS. 

154. The progress and the welfare of the people 
have been greatly promoted by the genius displayed in adapt- 
ing scientific discoveries to practical purposes. The multi- 
plicity, the variety, and the value of American inventions are 
equally surprising. A glance at the Patent-Office reports ex- 
hibits the wonderful activity and sagacity employed in this di- 
rection. The means of dispensing with bodily service, or of 
diminishing it, have been discovered in almost every process 
of toil, from digging and washing potatoes to making fire-arms, 
cultivating and gathering crops, and assuaging pain. 

155- So numerous are these inventions that they can- 
not be enumerated. Among the most notable, originated, or 
much improved by American talent, since the surrender of 
Yorktown, are : steam navigation on river and sea ; weather 
charts and forecasts ; charts of ocean depths and currents, 



and one-half miles. All the railroads of Europe reach only one hundred thousand 
nine hundred and twenty miles. 

* The telephone is a contrivance f^r conveying sounds and words to a distance by 
means of electricity. Edison's phonojjraph is an instrument for recording and pre- 
serving sounds, notes, and v/ords, and for reproducing them at any distance of time. 



292 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



with the deep-sea sounding line ; the reaping and mowing 
machine, and multitudes of other agricultural implements ; 
the magnetic telegraph, the telephone and the phonograph ; 
the sewing and the knitting machine ; bank-note engraving ; 
the repeating rifle and pistol ; the Ericsson hot-air engine ; 
the sand blast, and sulphuric ether. To these may be added 




MODKRN REAPING-MACHINE. 



wooden clocks, machine-made watches, and the machinery for 
making them ; with the wonderful variety of India-rubber and 
gutta-percha applications. 



EDUCATION. 

156. The wide diffusion of education among the peo- 
ple may, in part, explain this aptitude for invention, and for 
improvement upon the inventions of others. From an early 
period, education, of the higher and the lower grades, at- 
tracted the attention of the colonists, especially in New Eng- 
land. There were not more than half a dozen colleges pre- 
vious to the Revolution. There are now three hundred and 
sixty-four. Common schools are now established through- 
out the country. They provide every one, without regard to 



EDUCATION AND P KIN TING. 



293 



color, sex, or condition, opportunities of freely pursuing the 
royal road to learning. In the ample provision for general in- 
struction, the United States, or many of them, long anticipated 
Prussia, France, and the best educated countries of Europe. 

NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS. 

157- The means of acquiring knowledge are not only fur- 
nished to all, but the current of knowledge flows freely within 
the reach of every one. The number of newspapers and 
periodicals is not more remarkable than their cheapness, the 
wide scope of their intelligence, and the multitude of copies 
issued from the principal presses. The desire of knowledge 
is thus both indicated and fed. There is scarcely a village 
without its newspaper. Everywhere are found the issues from 
the capital of the State, and from New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, and the other principal cities. Never before has 
there been witnessed such a copious shower of daily, weekly, 
monthly, and quarterly publications.* 

PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

158. The more solid and permanent repositories of 
learning have not been neglected, as the country has ex- 
panded and grown in wealth and comfort and refinement. 
The publication and republication of books flood the country. 
Of the making of books there seems to be no end. Many may 
be worthless, or of only transitory value. Many, however, 
merit high commendation, and have added to the permanent 
treasures of the world. 

The interest excited by the home productions, and by those 
of other countries and other times, is shown by the rapid in- 
crease of public and private collections. It is supposed that 
there were no more than twenty-nine public libraries in the 



* The number of newspapers and periodicals was in 1880, 11. 314; •" ^884, 13,402, 
with a total annual circulation of 1,064,319,152. The number of papers in 1775 was 
37, with a circulation of i,2oo,ocx5. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

colonies, containing only forty-five thousand six hundred and 
twenty-three volumes, when the Declaration of Independence 
was signed. In the centennial year the public libraries num- 
bered three thousand six hundred and eighty-two, and they 
possessed twelve million two njndred and seventy-six thou- 
sand nine hundred and sixty-four volumes, besides uncounted 
pamphlets. 

LITERATURE. 

159. The domestic production of literature has been 
overwhelming in quantity. The promiscuous mass, most of 
which will, and should, speedily perish, is enriched by the 
works of several illustrious authors, who have secured for 




A HISTORIC HOUSE, CAMBRIDGK, MASS.: WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS, 
1775-6 — HOME OF LONGFELLOW. 

their names a high place in the temple of fame. Bryant and 
Poe and Longfellow ; Cooper and Hawthorne ; Irving and 



SCIENCE AND THE FINE ARTS. 295 

Ticknor ; Prescott and Motley, are the most eminent on the 
long roll. 

SCIENCE. 

160. American science has been directed more to 
practical results than to abstract speculation. Yet much 
has been accomplished in late years. The Smithsonian Insti- 
tution * is founded on a foreigner's liberality. But richly en- 
dowed observatories and technological institutes are multiplied 
by the munificence of native benefactors. Already American 
science can boast of conspicuous triumphs in the coast sur- 
vey, the geodetical, topographical, and geological explorations 
of the country, the physical geography of the oceans, and the 
system of meteorological observations. 

It can point with pride to many distinguished names. 
Agassiz was a Swiss, and Draper an Englishman, but their chief 
labors sprang on American soil. Hall's discovery of the Twins 
of Mars was exclusively American. With Hall may be ap- 
propriately conjoined Pierce and Henry, Maury and Morton, 
Schoolcraft and Bancroft. 

THE FINE ARTS. 

161. The cultivation of the arts which add elegance 
or splendor to life has not been disregarded. With the rapid 
increase of wealth, and of the ease and leisure which attend 
wealth, there has been a sudden development of those expen- 
sive displays which minister to refinement or to ostentation. 
Little judgment and less taste may be usually exhibited by 
those who foster the demand for such works, and reward its 
gratification. But architecture, sculpture, painting, and music 
have been recently cherished and stimulated, and have 
achieved memorable successes. The government buildings at 



* Mr. James Smithson, an Englishman, son of the Duke of Northumberland, dying 
in 1829, at Genoa, bequeathed his entire fortune to the Government of the United 
States, for the foundation at Washington of an institution " for the increase and dif- 
fusion of knowledge ;among men." The Smithsonian Institution was organized in 
1846. 



296 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Washington, and public edifices, ecclesiastical and civil, in 
other cities, indicate that talent is abundant, and not merely 
that expenditure is lavish. The works of engineering archi- 
tecture, in bridges, tunnels, aqueducts, etc., are often as grace- 
ful or as imposing in appearance as they are bold in design 
and execution. 

Powers and Story and Rogers have taken high rank as 
sculptors ; Allston and Healy and Leutze, Bierstadt and 
Church, have merited their eminence as painters. The bright 
skies and the pellucid atmosphere of the country, and the 
gorgeous hues of American forests have created a distinct and 
admirable school of landscape. It should be added, that the 
delicacy, precision, and effect of American wood engraving 
have never been equalled in any other country. 

The advance in art belongs almost exclusively to the century 
just closed, and mainly to very recent years. The times before 
the Revolution could claim only two or three painters as rep- 
resentatives of art. 

162. The Progress of the United States during a 
single century of independence may be estimated by compar- 
ing this startling picture of varied prosperity with the survey 
of the condition of the colonies at the beginning of the Revo- 
lutionary period. (See pp. 81-87.) 



This short narrative of the marvellous development of the 
United States which has changed the face of the continent, 
justifies dreams of the future brighter than the achievements 
of the past. The dangers are as great as the hopes. The 
story at this point (1881) awaits future continuation, with the 
trust that the American people may render 

" That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do." 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR'S AD MINIS TRA TION. 2 9 7 



THE ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR.- 
1881-1885. 




^:^ 



163. General Arthur,* the Vice-President, became Pres- 
« ident on the 

23bept. ^^^ti^ofpresi- 

dent Garfield. He avoid- 
ed notoriety in assuming 
his high office, and con- 
tinued to observe absti- 
nence from display. His 
administration was cau- 
tious, and was chiefly 
occupied with the inter- 
nal transactions of the 
country. It opened with 
the Centennial Celebra- 
tion at Yorktown (p. 
288), and closed with 
the inauguration of the 
Washington Monument. f 

164. Many noteworthy events marked the Presidency 
of General Arthur. Such were the increased prosperity of 
the Southern States of the Union ; the diminution of animos- 
ity between the North and the South ; the reapportionment 
of representatives in Congress ;J the reduction of the National 
Debt ; the demand for Revenue Reform ; the passage of the 




CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



* General Chester Allen Arthur (1830- ), of New York City, was one of the 
founders of the Republican Party. He was nominated for the Vice-Presidency at 
the Chicago Convention of 1880, to conciliate the disappointed advocates of a Third 
Term for General Grant. 

t The monument is a slender, unadorned obelisk, a few inches more than 555 feet 
high. The cost was $1,187,710.31 ; the weight is 81,120 tons. 

X The number of Representatives was placed at 325, which, under the census of 
1880, would give one Representative to each aggregate of 154,325 persons. 



298 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STA7ES. 

Civil Service Act ;* the regulation of succession to the Presi- 
dency ; t the Anti-Mormon Legislation ; the exclusion of 
Chinese immigrants ; the Blair Education Bill ; J the improper 
appropriation of the Indian Territory, and of the Public 
Domain ; the unfortunate results attending Arctic Explora- 
tion,§ and the Centennial Cotton Exhibition at New Orleans. 
165. Floods, droughts, conflagrations, earthquakes 
and tornadoes desolated many parts of the country. || 
Distress was extended and increased by the shrinkage of the 
values of railroad and other stocks ; by the great decline of 
prices ; by the severities of winter ; and by the multitude of 
failures, frauds, and embezzlements.lf These circumstances 



* The scramble for office attending a change of administration is injurious to the 
public welfare. An attempt at reform was made by Senator Pendleton's Civil Ser- 
vice Bill, 16th January, 1883. 

t The hazards of a doubtful or disputed succession to the Presidency occasioned 
much uneasiness during the fatal sickness of President Gartield. An act was passed 
by Congress, 9th January, 1883, guarding against some of the dangers. 

X So called from its mover, Senator Blair, 7th April, 1884. It is not yet— Octo- 
ber, 1885— enacted. Its principal provisions are the appropriation of $105,000,000 
during ten years. The money was to be distributed in proportion to the illiteracy 
of the several States— $15,000,000 the first year ; the amount to be diminished $1,000, 
000 annually for each of the succeeding nine years. 

§ Mr. Bennett, of the New York Herald, sent out the Jeannette, under Lieutenant 
De Long, on a voyage of exploration, 1879. It was crushed in the ice, north-east of 
the mouth of the Lena. Of the officers and crew, not a third escaped alive. The 
commander perished. 

Lieutenant Greely was sent by the Government to settle a Post north of Baffin's 
Bay, 1879. Two unsuccessful attempts were made to relieve him. The third, April, 
1884, was more fortunate. Only eight members of the colonizing party were found 
alive. Horrible stories of cannibalism were reported. 

I! The summer of 1881 was hot and dry. The corn crop was withered up. The 
streams ceased to run, the mills stopped grinding, the wells were without water. 
With the following spring came disastrous floods. The valley of the Mississippi 
was inundated from St. Louis to the Gulf. The river was in places from fifty to one 
hundred and fifty miles wide. 

Next year the Ohio valley was desolated in like manner. At Cincinnati the river 
rose more than 66 feet— two feet higher than in 18:52. 

Droughts and floods occurred in other years. The long and late drought of 1884 
diminished wheat culture by preventing the preparation of the ground. 

In 1881 everything was rendered inflammable by the protracted heat. Forest fires 
devastated a wide tract in Michigan, also in Pennsylvania. 

IT The firm of Grant and Ward failed in New York, 5th May, 1884, for $17,000,000. 
Other firms and banks were involved in the disaster. The failures of 1883 were 
twice as large as in any of the six years preceding. 



LABOR REFORM. 299 

stimulated agitation on the subject of Labor, of Land Ap- 
propriation, and of Monopolies. 

166. Changes of great prospective importance were ef- 
fected during the incumbency of Mr. Arthur. Such were 
the adoption of what has been designated " Standard Time ; "* 
the acceptance of the meridian of Greenwich as the Prime 
Meridian in the reckoning of Longitude ;t the endeavor, 
ultimately successful, to convert the Falls of Niagara, with the 
surrounding country, into a public pleasure ground ; and the 
recognition of the African Association of the Congo.J 



LABOR REFORM. 

167. The laboring population had been for years dis- 
quieted by the reduction of wages and employment, conse- 
quent upon the financial disasters of 1873. Restlessness had 
been encouraged by the labor movement in Europe.§ Strikes 
became frequent and serious. 
28 Tan ^ " Labor Bureau " was established as a part of 
the Federal Administration. 11 



* "Standard," or Uniform, Time was designed to prevent the confusion and 
hazard occasioned by the differences of local time. Dividing the country into four 
great time belts, each 15° wide, the local time of the central meridian of each belt is 
made the Standard Time for the entire belt. These central meridians are the 75th, 
90th, 105th, j2oth, and the time belts are known as the Eastern. Central, Mountain, 
and Pacifi?. Thus the difference of time in the several belts is in exact hours. The 
change went into operation i8th November, 1883. 

+ It was adopted at an International Conference at Washington (October, 1884). 
France proposed that the First Meridian should pass through Behring's Strait. 

X The establishment of the Free State of the Congo, with an area of 1,000,000 
square miles, is amongst the most memorable events of the age. The Association 
sprang from Stanley's discovery and exploration of the Upper and Middle Congo. 
The authority of the Association was earliest recognized by the United States, loth 
April, 1884 ; and the independent State was constituted by the Berlin Conference, 
15th November, 1884. 

§ An organization called the "Knights of Labor" counted 140,000 members in 
1882. Labor Conventions were held at Albany, at Saratoga, and in New York City. 
Much dissatisfaction with the existing order of industry prevailed. 

U A similar provision had been made five years before by the State of Missouri. 



300 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



REVENUE AND TARIFF REFORM. 

i68. The extraordinary taxes, which were still in 
great measure continued, brought vast sums into the Treas- 
ury, and favored extravagant expenditure. The propriety of 
reducing the surplus, which had reached $100,000,000, and 
of diminishing taxation, became apparent. There was no 
agreement in regard to the mode of attaining this result. A 
Tariff Commission was, however, appointed, and 

1883. made a report on this subject. In accordance 
3 March, -^yith this report, an Act of Congress was passed 

modifying the tariff in a slight degree. 
In the last Congress of President Arthur's Administration, 
Mr. Morrison introduced a Bill into the House of Represent- 
atives, for the reduction of the tariff, by reducing the duties 
one-fifth on most of the articles protected,* and by exempt- 
ing from duty many employed for consumption or for manu- 
facturing. The bill was rejected. 

THE CHINESE AND THE MORMONS. 

169. Chinese laborers competed with the settled popu- 

lation of the United States. This occasioned 

1882. local discontent and disturbances. An Act of 

May. Congress suspended Chinese immigration for ten 

years. 
Mormon polygamy was another cause of offence. 

Measures for its suppression were proposed by the 

1884. " Edmunds Law." A more stringent act was 
18 June, subsequently passed, in consonance with the re- 
port of a Government Commission. 

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

170. A monument to perpetuate the memory of General 
Washington's services had been decreed by Congress at the 



* This was designated '' Horizontal Reducti 



THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 



301 



close of the Revolution. Nothing was done till liberal indi- 
viduals * assumed the public duty. The corner stone was laid 
4 July, 1848, and an address was delivered by Mr. Win- 
throp, of Massachusetts. The task was too heavy for private 
munificence. It was undertaken by Congress, and was com- 
pleted nearly forty years after its commencement. 
It was inaugurated, with appropriate ceremonies, 
in the presence of an immense assemblage. The 
address was by Mr. Winthrop, who had been the 
spokesman at its foundation. 



1885. 
26 Feb. 



THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 

171. Republican rule had been maintained for almost a 

quarter of a century. 
Many causes combined 
to inflame opposition to 
its continuance. Much 
animosity marked the 
efforts on one side to 
retain, on the other 
side to gain control of 
the Government. The 
Democrats nominated 
as their candidates : 
Grover Cleveland,! of 
New York, as President, 
and Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks, of Indiana, as 
Vice - President. The 
Republicans designated 
James G. Blaine, of Maine, and General John A. Logan, of 




GROVER CLEVELAND. 



* Of these, Mr. W. W. Corcoran, of Washington, survived to be present at the 
inaufjuration of the finished work. 

t Grover Cleveland (1837- )• born in New Jersey, of a New Enjjland family : 
Sheriff of Erie County, 1870; Mayor of Buffalo, 1882; Governor of New York, 
1884. He occupied the Governor's Chair at the time of his election. 



302 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Illinois, for those offices, respectively. The nomination of 
Mr. Blaine offended many Republicans, who threw their 
votes, in consequence, for Mr. Cleveland. Two other tick- 
ets were proposed for the acceptance of the people. The 
Greenback, Labor, and Anti-Monopoly organizations pre- 
sented, as their favorites, General B. F. Butler, of Massachu- 
setts, for President, and General Absalom M. West, of Mis- 
sissippi, for Vice-President. The Prohibitionists, or Temper- 
ance Party, advocated the election of General John O. St. 
John, of Kansas, and William Daniel, of Maryland. The vic- 
tory fell to the Democrats, who had been excluded from office 
for twenty-four years. The Electoral vote in their favor was 
219 ; in favor of the Republican nominees, 182. The votes 
of New York decided the election. 

RESTORATION OF GENERAL GRANT TO THE ARMY. 

172. The last official duty of President Arthur was to 

sign the act by which General Grant was restored 

in^' i_ to the Army, as general on the retired Hst, and to 
4 March. . ^ /.' ^^ . .. _ 

nommate hun to the position. 1 he veteran was 

at the time sick "nigh unto death." He had surrendered his 

estate for the benefit of the creditors of Grant and Ward, 

and was reduced in fortune, as in health and in hope. 

The mention of this grateful honor invites some notice of 

the final close of the distinguished career of the victor in the 

War of Secession. 

THE DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT. 

173. General Grant died about midsummer, after the 
change of the administration.* He had lingered for many 

months in much suffering, which he had borne 

^ T 1 with fortitude and serenity. He did not renounce 
27 July. 

the composition of the narrative of his campaigns. 



* He died at Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga. He had been removed, a few weeks 
previously, from the heat of the City of New York to a summer cottage there. 



FUNERAL OF GENERAL GRANT. 



303 



He had virtually completed the work by the time that life 
was ended. 

The intelligence of General Grant's death was received 
everywhere with deep regret. He had been so long promi- 
nent, as Commander of the Federal armies, as President for 
two terms, and as a traveler round the world, that the most 
notable personage in the country was felt to have been re- 
moved. The South was not less prompt than the North in 
rendering homage to his memory. The asperities of conflict 
were silenced at the tomb.* 

The manifestation of respect was not confined to the two 
sections of the reunited country. It circled the globe. For- 
eign states and potentates — even from the ends of the earth — 
took part in the general sorrow, 

FUNERAL OF GENERAL GRANT. 

174. The remains of General Grant were conveyed 

from Mt. McGregor to the City of New York, where the 

funeral was conducted by the Government, under the orders 

of General Hancock. It was attended by an enor- 

Q^ A nious concourse of people, military and civil. The 

body was placed in Riverside Park, The impos- 
ing ceremonial was rendered more impressive by the presence 
of Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Buckner, of the Con- 
federate Army, as pallbearers, appointed by the President, by 
desire of Mrs. Grant ; by General Hampton, as a representa- 
tive of the Senate ; and by the service of Generals Fitz Lee 
and Gordon, also Confederate officers, on the staff of General 
Hancock, and at his request. 

Fourteen years had elapsed since General Robert E. Lee 
had been borne to the grave, in the quiet village of Lexington, 
in Virginia, 

♦ General Grant had been modest and considerate at the surrender of Appomattox. 
He had been firm in his interposition for the protection of the Southern leaders. 
The sentiments of his letter to General Buckner, and of a note published after his 
death, were cordially appreciated at the South. 



304 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



SUMMARY OF TOPICS.— PART VI. 

WAR OF SECESSION.-RECONSTRUCTION AND 
GROWTH, 1861-1881. 

Lincoln's Administration. First Year of the War. i. The history 
of the war and of the subsequent time impracticable ; what is attempted. 
2. Remote causes of the conflict ; their increasing gravity. 3. Capture of 
Fort Sumter ; Lincoln calls for troops. 4. Virginia secedes ; capture of 
Harper's Ferry and Navy Yard ; the Merrimac. 5. Other States secede ; 
Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri ; attack in Baltimore. 6. Richmond 
made the Southern capital ; Alexandria seized. 7. First hostile move- 
ments ; Big Bethel ; Rich Mountain ; the Kanawha Valley; Carnifex Ferry, 
West Virginia secured by the Federals. 8. First battle of Manassas ; 
Stonewall Jackson. 9. Effect of Manassas ; increase of Federal forces ; 
McClellan. 10. Missouri obtained by the Federals ; Booneville ; battle 
of Oak Hill. 11. Missouri Convention. 12. Kentucky; Columbus, and 
Belmont. 13. Naval operations ; Hatteras ; Port Royal ; Fort Pickens. 
14. Confederate Navy; the Sumter; the Nashville. 15. Mason and 
Slidell. 16. Results of the year ; paper money ; confiscation. 

Second Year of the War. 17. Confederate disasters ; Mill Springs ; 
Elk Horn ; Fort Henry ; Fort Donelson ; Kentucky abandoned ; Nash- 
ville ; Columbus ; Roanoke Island ; Valverde. 18. Inauguration of 
President Davis. iQo Character of the campaign. 20. the Virginia and 
the Monitor. 21. McClellan's change of the scene of war; Yorktown ; 
Norfolk; Williamsburg. 22. Battle of Seven Pines; Johnston wound- 
ed ; succeeded by Lee. 23. Jackson in the valley ; McDowell ; Win- 
chester ; Port Republic. 24. Seven days' battle ; Gaines's Mill ; Cold 
Harbor; Malvern Hill. 25. New levy ; McClellan removed. 26. Cedar 
Mountain ; second battle of Manassas. 27. Maryland invaded ; Harper's 
Ferry ; Sharpsburg ; Antietam. 28. Battle of Fredericksburg. 29. Bat- 
tle of Shiloh ; Memphis ; Vicksburg. 30. New Orleans taken. 31. 
Battle of Perryville. 32. Battles of Murfreesboro, 33. Operations at 
sea. 34. Emancipation proclaimed. 35. Proposed mediation. 36. Con- 
dition of the belligerents. 

Third Year of the War. 37 Effect of the war on foreign countries ; 
recognition ; campaign of the year. 38. Battle of Chancellorsville ; 
Jackson's death. 39. After Jackson's wound. 40. Pennsylvania invaded ; 



SUMMAR Y FOR RE VIE W. - 

Fleetwood. 41. Battle of Gettysburg. 42. Lee's retreat. 43. Siege of 
Vicksburg ; Baker's Creek. 44. Surrender of Vicksburg. 45, Streight's 
raid. 46. Morgan's raid. 47. Battle of Chickamauga. 48. Battles of 
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge ; Knoxvillc. 49. Fort Sum- 
ter and Charleston. 50. T\\(t AIabaf7ia ; " The Alabama Claims." 51. 
West Virginia. 52. Results of the campaign ; Confederate currency; na- 
tional banks and national currency ; Pacific territory ; Nevada ; con- 
scription. 

Fourth Year of the War. 53. The respective forces ; lines of op- 
eration. 54. Florida invaded ; Olustee ; Sherman's raid ; Okalona ; Fort 
Pillow. 55. Battle of Mansfield ; Pleasant Hill ; Newbern. 56. Kil- 
patrick's raid ; Dahlgren's design ; his death. 57. Grant in command ; 
his army ; Lee's army ; General Butler. 58. Battles of the Wilderness. 
59. Stuart's death. 60. Butler "bottled up." 61. Battle of Newmarket ; 
Dublin ; Lexington ; Lynchburg ; Hunter's disaster. 62. Second bat- 
tle of Cold Harbor. 63. Siege of Petersburg ; Grant's endeavor ; the 
Crater ; Dutch Gap. 64. Early's advance on Washington ; Monocacy , 
Chambersburg burnt. 65. Sheridan; battle of Winchester ; Cedar Creek. 
66. Sherman's advance ; Kenesaw Mountain ; Johnston removed. 67. 
Battles round Atlanta ; Hood's attempt ; Franklin ; Nashville. 68. Sher- 
man's "march to the sea;" Fort McAllister; Savannah occupied ; effect 
of this march. 69. Naval affairs; the Alabama; the Florida; Fort 
Fisher. 70. Lincoln reelected ; Nevada admitted. 71. Federal and 
Confederate finances. 

Fifth Year of the War. 72. The main operations ; forces opposed ; 
prisoners not exchanged. 73. Negotiations ; Thirteenth Amendment. 
74. The final campaign. 75. Destruction of railroads ; Waynesboro. 
76. Battle of Five Forks ; Richmond and Petersburg evacuated. 77. The 
pursuit ; the surrender of Lee. 78. Burning of Richmond. 79. End of 
the Confederacy. 80. Sherman's march through the Carolinas ; Columbia 
burnt ; Averysboro ; Bentonville ; Sherman's army. 81. Convention at 
Durham Station ; Johnston's surrender. 82. Assassination of President 
Lincoln. 83. Overthrow of the Southern Confederacy ; President Davis 
captured and imprisoned ; Alabama and Georgia ; surrender of the re- 
maining armies ; ITooker's tribute to the conquered. 84. Reciprocity 
Treaty abrogated ; Freedmen's Bureau ; demand on Britain ; the Emperor 
Maximilian. 

Andrew Johnson's Administration. 85. Character of the subse- 
quent history ; effect on its treatment. 86. Punishment of the conspirators. 
87. Release of President Davis ; amnesty proclaimed. 88. Reconstruc- 
tion ; President Johnson's procedure ; Joint Committee of Congress ; Civil 
Rights Bill ; P'ourteenth Amendment ; Colorado ; Nebraska admitted. 



3o6 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



8g. Opposition to the President ; Tenure of Office Act ; military govern* 
ments in the South. 90. President Johnson impeached. 91. Trans- 
atlantic cable. 92. Emperor Maximilian executed. 93. Alaska bought ; 
St. Thomas ; the Bay of Samana refused. 94. Treaty with China ; 
"Clarendon-Johnson Treaty" rejected. 95. Grant elected President; 
States excluded. 96. Fifteenth Amendment. 

Grant's Administration. 97. Reconstruction continued ; character 
oftheperiod. 98. Pacific Railroad. 99. " Black Friday." 100. George 
Peabody's death ; his munificence, loi. All the States restored ; the 
Fifteenth Amendment adopted. 102. Fenian invasion of Canada ; pro- 
posed annexation of San Domingo. 103. The population ; the national 
debt; the currency. 104. "The Joint High Commission;" the 
" Treaty of Washington." 105. The Geneva Tribunal ; the award. 106. 
"The Fishery Commission;" its award; the Oregon boundary line. 
107. Hostilities in Corea ; Japanese Embassy. 108. The Chicago fire; 
forest fires. 109. The " Ku-Klux Klan ; " Military Enforcement Act. 
no. New York frauds, in. Political disturbances in the South, 112. 
" The Grangers ; " " The Greenback Party." 113. Reelection of Gen- 
eral Grant. 114. Character of his second administration. 115. "The 
salary grab." 116. Financial crash. 117. Modoc war ; General Canby 
murdered. 1 18. The Virginius ; conduct of the United States lig. 
Financial condition ; the currency question ; the silver' question. 120. 
Resumption of specie payments. 121. Centennial celebration ; Cen- 
tennial Exhibition ; Emperor and Empress of Brazil. 122. Belknap im- 
peachment. 123. Whiskey rings and trials. 124. The third term. 
125. Sioux war; Custer's massacre. 126. Presidential election. 127. 
Grant's last message ; Colorado admitted. 128. Hazards of the Presi- 
dential election. 129. Opposing elements. 130. The "Joint Electoral 
Commission ; " Hayes declared President. 

Hayes's Administration. 131. Character of the administration. 
132. Prosperous times. 133. The principal topics. 134. Troops with- 
drawn from the South. 135. Tramps. 136. Labor riots ; Pittsburg riot. 
137. Recoinage of silver dollars. 138. The yellow fever. 139. Na- 
tional Sanitary Commission. 140. Resumption of specie payment. 141. 
refunding the national debt. 142. Presidential election ; Garfield 
elected. 143. Census of 1880. 

Garfield's Administration. 144. Its brief duration ; hopes enter- 
tained. 145. Refunding Bill. 146. Peruvian war ; Blaine's policy. 147. 
Garfield's assassination. 148. Centennial celebration at Yorktown. 

A Century of Independence. 149- A retrospect desirable. 150. 
Territory and population. 151. Wealth. 152. Industry and trade. 153. 
Steam and electricity. 154. Inventions. 155. The most noted inven- 



::>UMMAR Y FOR RE VIE W. 307 

tions. 156. Education. 157. Newspapers and periodicals. 158. Public 
libraries. 159. Literature. 160. Science. 161. The fine arts. 162. 
Progress since the Revolution. 

Arthur's Administration. 163. His entrance upon office. 164. 
Noteworthy events. 165. Floods, droughts, etc. 166. Important 
changes ; adoption of standard time, etc. 167. Labor reform. 168. 
Revenue and tariff reform. 169. The Chinese and the Mormons. 170. 
The Washington Monument. 171. Presidential election ; Cleveland 
elected. 172. Restoration of General Grant to the army. 173. Death of 
General Grant. 174. Funeral of General Grant. 



3o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

SETTLEMENT AND ADMISSION OF THE STATES. 









SETTLED. 






NO 


STATES. 








ADMIT- 




WHEN. 


WHERE. 


BY WHOM. 


TED. 


I 


Virginia. 


1607. 


Jamestown. 


English. 


1776. 


2 


New York. 


1614. 


New York. 


Dutch. 




3 


\ Massachusetts. 


1620. 


Plymouth. 


English. 


" 


4 


New Hampshire. 


1623. 


Little Harbor. 


" 


" 


5 


Connecticut. 


1633. 


Windsor. 


" 


<( 


6 


Maryland. 


1634. 


St. Mary's. 


" 


" 


7 


Rhode Island. 


1636. 


Providence. 


" 


'• 


8 


Delaware. 


1638. 


Wilmington. 


Swedes . 


'« 


9 


j North Carolina. 


1650. 


Chowan River. 


English. 


'« 


lO 


i New Jersey. 


1664. 


Elizabeth. 


Dutch. 


" 


II 


South Carolina. 


1670. 


Ashley River. 


English. 


« 


12 


' Pennsylvania. 


1682. 


Philadelphia. 


" 


" 


13- 


] Georgia, 


1733. 


Savannah. 


<< 


" 


14 


1 Vermont. 


1724. 


Fort Dummer. 


" 


I79I. 


15- 


Kentucky. 


1775- 


Boonsboro. 


(< 


1792. 


i6. 


Tennessee. 


1757. 


Fort Loudoun. 


" 


1796. 


17. 


Ohio. 


1788. 


Marietta. 


♦< 


1802. 


18. 


Louisiana. 


1699. 


Iberville. 


French. 


I812. 


19. 


Indiana. 


173. 


Vincennes. 


" 


1816. 


20. 


Mississippi. 


1716. 


Natchez. 


" 


I817. 


21. 


Illinois. 


1720. 


Kaskaskia. 


" 


I818. 


22 


Alabama. 


1711. 


Mobile. 


" 


I8I9. 


23 


1 Maine. 


1625. 


Bristol. 


" 


1820. 


24 


Missouri. 


1764. 


St. Louis. 


" 


I82I. 


25 


Arkansas. 


1764. 


Arkansas Post. 


<< 


1836. 


26 


Michigan. 


1685. 


Detroit. 


" 


1837. 


27 


Florida. 


1565. 


St. Augustine. 


Spaniards. 


1845. 


28 


j Texas. 


1692. 


San Antonio. 


<( 


1845. 


29 


: Iowa. 


1833. 


Burlington. 


Americans. 


1846. 


30 


Wisconsin. 


1669. 


Green Bay. 


French. 


1848. 


31 


California. 


1769. 


San Diego. 


Spaniards. 


1850. 


32 


Minnesota. 


1846. 


St. Paul. 


Americans. 


1858. 


33 


Oregon. 


1811. 


Astoria. 


" 


1859. 


34 


Kansas. 






t( 


I861. 


35 


West Virginia. 






English. 


1863. 


36 


i Nevada. 






Americans. 


1864. 


37 


Nebraska. 






(( 


1867. 


38 


! Colorado. 




^ 




1876. 



TERRITORIES AND PRESIDENTS. 309 

TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



NO. 


TERRITORIES. 


WHENCE TAKEN. 


WHEN ORGAN- 
IZED. 


I 

2 

3 
4 

5 
6 

7 

8 

9 
10 




New Mexico. 

Utah. 

Washington. 

Dakota. 

Arizona. 

Idaho. 

Montana. 

Wyoming. 

Alaska. • 

Indian Territory. 

District of Columbia. 


Mexico. 

Oregon Territory. 

Louisiana Territory. 

Mexico. 

Oregon Territory. 

Louisiana Territory. 

Russian America. 
Louisiana Territory. 

Maryland [and Virginia]. 


1850. 

1853- 
I86I. 
1863. 

1864. 

1868. 

Unorganized. 



PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 

STATES. 



NO. 


PRESIDENTS. 


FROM WHAT STATE. 


INAUGURATED. 


VICE-PRESIDENTS. 


I. 


George Washington. 


Virginia. 


April 30, 1789. 
March 4, 1797. 


John Adams. 


2. 


John Adams. 


Massachusetts. 


Thomas Jefferson. 


3- 


Thomas Jefferson. 


Virginia. 


" 1801. 


3 Aaron Burr. 
( George Clinton. 


4- 


James Madison. 


- 


" 1809. 


J George Clinton. 
1 Elbridge Gerry. 


S- 


James Monroe. 


11 


" 1817. Daniel D. Tompkins. 


6. 


John Quincy Adams. 


Massachusetts. 


" 1825. 


John C. Calhoun. 


7- 


Andrew Jackson. 


Tennessee. 


" 1829. 


] John C. Calhoun. 
1 Martin Van Buren. 


R 


Martin Van Buren. 


New York. 


" 1837. 


Richard M. Johnson. 


g. 


William H. Harrison. 


Ohio. 


" 18^1. 


John Tyler. 


10. 


John Tyler. 
James K. Polk. 


Virginia. 


April 6, 1841. 




11 


Tennessee. 


March 4, 1845. 


George M. Dallas. 


12. Zachary Taylor. 


Louisiana. 


" 5, 1849. 


Millard Fillmore. 


13- 


Millard Fillmore. 


New York. 


July 0, 1850. 
March 4, 1853- 




14 


Franklin Pierce. 


New Hampshire. 


William R. King. 


15- 


James Buchanan. 


Pennsylvania. 


" 1857. 


John C. Breckinridge. 
] Hannibal Hamlin. 
1 Andrew Johnson. 


\t. 1 Abraham Lincoln. 


Illinois. 


" 1861, 


17 


Andrew Johnson. 


Tennessee. 


April 15, 1865. 




18. 


Ulysses S. Grant. 


Illinois. 


March 4, 1869. 


j Schuyler Colfa.x. 
1 Henry Wilson. 


19- 

TO. 


Rutherford B. Hayes. 
James A. Garfield. 


Ohio. 


u 5' '877- 
" 4, 1881. 


William A. Wheeler. 
Chester A. Arthur. 


21 . 


Chester A. Arthur. 


New York. 


Sept. 20, 1881. 




22. 


Grover Cleveland. 




March 4. 1885 


Thomas A. Hendncks. 



3 TO HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



THE 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

Adopted by Congress July 4, 1776. 



A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN 
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes ^necessary for one people to 
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of 
nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they 
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these, are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments 
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed ; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, 
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new govern- 
ment, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, should not be 
changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience bath shown, 
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right 
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design 
to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has 
been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which 
constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the 
present king of Qreat Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, 
all having, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the 
public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing import- 
ance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and, 
when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 



^THE DE CLARA TION OF INDEPENDENCE. ^ j x 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of 
people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the 
legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and 
distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firm- 
ness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be 
elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to 
the people at large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the mean time, exposed 
to all the danger of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose, 
obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to 
encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations 
of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for 
establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and 
the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to 
harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of 
our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil 
power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our consti- 
tution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pre- 
tended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, for any murders which 
they should commit on the inhabitants of these States : 

For cutting oflE our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, estab- 
lishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as toren. 
der it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule 
into tfiese colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, 
lundamentally, liie powers of our governments : 



312 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with 
power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and wag- 
ing w£ir against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the 
lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete 
the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of 
cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally un- 
worthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms 
against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to 
fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on 
the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of 
warfare is an undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress, in the most 
humble terms ; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. 
A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is 
unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. 

We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature to 
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their na- 
tive justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our com- 
mon kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our 
connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice 
and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which de- 
nounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in 
war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general 
Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude 
of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these 
colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be,yV^^ and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance 
to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of 
Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and inde- 
pendent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alli- 
ances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent 
States may of right do. And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm rel* - 
ance on the protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each 
other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 



THE DECLARA TION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



313 



[The forcgoinf? Declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed and signed by 
the following members :] JOHN HANCOCK. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 



MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

RHODE ISLAND. 



Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery, 



CONNECTICUT. 



Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 



NEW YORK. 



William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 



NEW JERSEY. 

Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark, 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

DELAWARE. 

Caesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas McKean. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 



Charles Carroll, of Carroll- 
ton. 



George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, jr., 
Thomas Ljnch, jr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

GEORGIA. 

Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



Copies of the foregoing Declaration were, by a resolution of Congress, sent to the 
several assemblies, conventions, and committees, or councils of safety, and to the 
several commanding officers of the continental troops ; and it was also proclaimed 
in each of the United States, and at the head of the army. 



314 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THE 

4 

CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA* 



[PREAMBLE.] 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, estab- 
lish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote 
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE L 
[THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.] 

Section i. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of 
the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section 2. ['] The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members 
chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in 
each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous 
Branch of the State Legislature. 

[2] No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age 



* This is an exact copy of the original in punctuation, spelling, capitals, etc.,— m 
all respects except the words and figures which are inclosed in brackets, and the 
reference marks. 



Preamble.— For what purposes was the Constitution formed ? What three depart- 
ments of government are established under the Constitution ? A ns. The legislative, 
the judicial, and the executive : the legislative to enact the laws ; the executive to 
enforce the laws, and the judicial to interpret them. 

Article i. Sec. i.— In whom is the legislative power vested, and of what does it 
consist ? 

Sec. 2. ['] By whom are the representatives chosen, and how often ? What is an 
elector ? A ns. A person who has the right to vote in choosing an officer. 

[2] What are the qualifications for representatives ? 



THE CONSTITUTION, 



315 



of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and vvhc 
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

[3J Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States 
which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers,* 
which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including 
those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all other Persons, t The actual Enumeration shall be made within three 
Years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every 
subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they sliall by Law direct. The 
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each 
State shall have at Least one Representative ; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts 
eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six., 
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. 
North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

[*] When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive 
Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. 

[*j The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other officers ; % 
and shall have the sole power of Impeachment. 

Section 3. [i] The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators 
from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator 
shall have one Vote. 

[2] Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, 
they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the 
Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of 
the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third class at 
the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year ; 



* Under the census of 1880 one representative is allowed for every 154,325 persons. 

t" Other persons" refers to slaves. See Amendments, Art. XIV., Sections 
I and 2. 

tThe principal of these arc the clerk, sergeant-at-arms, door-keeper, and 
postmaster. 



P] How were representatives and direct taxes apportioned ? When and how often 
was the census to be taken ? 

[^J How were vacancies in the representation from any State to be filled ? 

[*J What powers arc delegated to the House of Representatives? 

Sec. 3. ( ' 1 Who compose the Senate of the United States .> By whom chosen ? For 
what period of time ? and to how many votes is each senator entitled ? How does a 
senator differ from a representative? Ans. A senator is chosen by the legislature 
of his own State, for six years,— a representative is chosen by the people, for 
two years. 

[2] Into how many classes were they at first divided, and for what purpose? 
What provision is made for vacancies ? 



3i6 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments 
until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. 

L^j No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty 
Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

[<] The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. 

[S] The Senate shall chusc their other Officers, and also a President, pro tempore, 
in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of 
President of the United States. 

[s] The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting 
for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the 
United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no Person shall be 
convicted without the Concurrence of tv/o-thirds of the Members present. 

['J Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal 
from Office, and Disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honour, Trust or 
Profit under the United States : but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. 

Section 4. [>] The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators 
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ; 
but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except 
as to the places of chusing Senators. 

[2] The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a dif- 
ferent Day. 

Section 5. [»] Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Quali- 
fications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to 
do Business ; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under 
such Penalties as each House may provide. 

[2] Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members 
for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member 



[3] What are the necessary qualifications for a senator ? 

[•*[ What two offices does the vice-president fill ? 

[»] What officers can the Senate choose ? 

[«] What further power has this body ? 

[^] In cases of impeachment, how far may judgment extend ? 

Sec. 4. ['-] For what does the legislature of each State prescribe? 

[2] How often, and when, does Congress assemble ? 

Sec. 5. ['] Of what is each House the judge ? 

[»] What other powers does each House possess ? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 317 

-['] Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to lime 
publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; 
and the Yeas and Naya of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the 
Desire of one-liflh of those Present, be entered on the Journal. 

[*J Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of 
the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which 
the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. [>] The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation* 
for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the 
United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the 
Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their re- 
spective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech 
or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 

[2] No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, 
be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall 
have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during 
such time ; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a 
Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. ' 

Section 7. \}\ All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Repre- 
sentatives • but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other 
Bills. 

[2] Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United 
States ; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections 
to the House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large 
on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two- 
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
Objections to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of that House it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases 
the Votes of Both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of 
the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each 



* The present compensation is $5,000 a year, and an allowance of 20 cents for every 
mile of travel to and from the national capital. 



['] What is each House required to keep ? 

[*J What restrictions are placed upon this body ? 

Sec. 6. ['] What do they receive for their services, and from what are they exempt ? 

[2] Can a senator or representative hold a civil office ? 

Sec. 7. ['] In which branch of the government do revenue bills originate ? 

[2] To whom are all bills presented, after they have passed the House? If the 
president disapproves of the bill, what becomes of it ? How long can the president 
retain a bill, unsigned, before it becomes a law ? 
14 



3i8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten 
Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be 
a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjourn- 
ment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

[3j Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) 
shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and before the same shall 
take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be 
repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the 
Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 

Section 8. The Congress shall have Power. 

['] To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and 
provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States ; but all 
Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

[2] To borrow Money on the credit of the United States ; 

[3] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, 
and with the Indian Tribes ; 

[''J To establish an umform Rule of Naturalization,* and uniform Laws on the 
subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

[*] To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the 
Standard of Weights and Measures ; 

[*] To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current 
Coin of the United States ; 

['] To establish Post Ofifices and post Roads ; 

[8] To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited 
Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Rightt to their respective Writings 
and Discoveries ; 



* The Naturalization laws require a foreigner to hz in the country five years before 
he is entitled to citizenship. 

t An Author obtains a copyright by application to the Librarian of Congress, and 
it is secured for twenty-eight years. 

An Inventor secures a patent from the Patent Office, at Washington, for a certain 
number of years, prescribed by the Commissioner of Patents. 



\}\ What power is delegated to the president in clause 3 ? 

Sec. 8. ['] What power has Congress in regard to taxes, duties, etc. ? 

[2 1 How can money be borrowed ? 

[^] What can Congress regulate ? 

r^J What rule and laws can it establish ? 

[^] What power has it in regard to money ? 

('"J What jurisdiction over counterfeiting ? 

[^] What can it establish ? 

[8] How does it promote the progress of science and useful arts ? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 319 

[»] To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ; 

[i°] To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and 
Offences against the Law of Nations ; 

[11] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules coi>- 
cerning Captures on Land and Water ; 

[12] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall 
be for a longer Term than two Years ; 

[13] To provide and maintain a Navy ; 

[•<] To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval 
Forces ; 

[15] To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, 
suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions ; 

['®J To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, 
reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the 
Authority of training the Militia according to the Discipline prescribed by Congress ; 

[!'] To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District 
(not exceeding ten Miles square; as may, by Cession of particular States, and the 
Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, 
and to exercise like Authority over all places purchased by the Consent of the Legis- 
lature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, 
Arsenals, Dock- Yards, and other needful Buildings ;— And 

['^J To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Exe- 
cution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the 
Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 

Section 9. \}\ The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States 
now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress, 



[»] What tribunals can it constitute ? 

['"] What does it punish ? What is meant by high seas ? Afis. The water of the 
ocean beyond the limits of low-water mark. 

[I'J What authority is delegated in this clause? What are meant by letters of 
marque and reprisal > Ans. Commissions granted to individuals, authorizing them 
to capture vessels, etc., of any other nation at war with the United States govern- 
ment. 

["'•^J What power is given in regard to armies, and with what restriction ? 

[13 j What, in regard to a navy ? 

['••J What rules can it make ? 

[1*] For what purposes can the militia be called out ? 

['6J What is the law respecting the militia ? What right is reserved to the States ? 

[i^J Over what is exclusive legislation permitted ? What does the State legislature 
grant to Congress ? 

[18] What general powers are vested in this body ? 

Sec. 9. [1] What was the law of migration or importation of persons? When was 
this importation prohibited ? Atis. Jan. i, 1808. 



320 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be 
imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. 

[2] The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. 

[3j No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

[*] No Capitation, or other direct Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the 
Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

[5J No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. 

[«] No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to 
the Ports of one State over those of another : nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, 
one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

P] No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appro- 
priations made by Law ; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts 
and Expeditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time. 

[S] No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States : And no Person 
holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, 
from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 

Section io. [i] No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation ; 
grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any 
Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts ; pass any Bill of At- 
tainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant 
any Title of Nobility. 

[2] No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties 
on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executmg its 
inspection Laws : and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State 
on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States ; 
and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. 



[2] When can the writ of habeas corpus be suspended ? What is meant by a writ 
of habeas corpus ? Ans. K written order from a magistrate directing that a certain 
person shall be brought before him. 

[3] What is embraced in this clause ? What is meant by bill of attainder ? A ns. 
An act of the legislature by which a person guilty of high crime may be put to death 
without other trial. What is an ex post facto law ? A ns. A law which makes an act 
punishable, which was not so at the time of its commission. 

[*] How are taxes apportioned ? 

[^J Can articles carried from one State to another be taxed ? 

[*] What is the law regulating revenue and commerce ? 

[''] What is the regulation imposed respecting public moneys ? 

[8] Can any titles be granted by the government, or any gifts be received by its 
officials ? 

Sec. IO. [1] What restrictions are imposed upon the States ? 

[2] What prohibitions are the States under, regarding imposts, etc.? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 



321 



['] No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, 
keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Com- 
pact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually 
invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of Delay. 

ARTICLE 11. 

[THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.] 

Section i. \}\ The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United 
States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, to- 
gether with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows : 

PJ Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, 
a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives 
to which the State may be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or Representa- 
tive, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be 
appointed an Elector. 

* [3] The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two 
Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with 
themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the 
Number of Votes for each ; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be 
counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, 
if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed ; and if 
there be more than one who have such Majority and have an equal Number of Votes, 
then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for 
President ; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List 
the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the Presi- 
dent, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having 
one Vote ; a Quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from 
two-thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 



This clause has been superseded by the 12th Amendment. 



['] What restrictions are imposed under this clause ? 

Art. n. Sec. i. ['J In whom is the executive power vested? How long docs he 
hold office ? Can he remain in office after the term expires ? Ans. He may be re- 
elected any number of times. 

[2] How are electors appointed ? 

['] How were the electors to perform their duties ? In choosing the president, how 
were the votes taken ? How was the vice-president chosen ? 



322 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the 
greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there 
should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them 
by Ballot the Vice President. 

[4] The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day 
on which they shall give their Votes ; which Day shall be the same throughout the 
United States. 

[^] No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at 
the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of Presi- 
dent ; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to 
the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United 
States. 

[^J In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resig- 
nation, or Inability to discharge tlie Powers and Duties of the said office, the same 
shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the 
Case of Removal, Death, Resi^^nation, or Inability, both of the President and Vice 
President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall 
act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

['] The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, 
which shall neither be encreascd nor diminished during the Period for which he 
shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolu- 
ment from the United States, or any of them. 

[^] Before he enter on the E.xecution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath 
or Affirmation : 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of Presi- 
"dent of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and 
"defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Section 2. [*] The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy 
of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the 
actual Service of the United States ; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the 
principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to 
the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves 
and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

[2] He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to 



[•«] Who determines the time of choosing electors? 
[■'*] What qualifications are necessary for the presidency r 
[*] When does the office devolve upon the vice-president ? 

[■'J How is the president compensated for his services ? (The salary of the presi 
dent is $50,000 per annum, and that of the vice-president is $8,000.) 
[S] What is the prescribed oath of office ? 
Sec. z- {}] What powers are delegated to the president? 
['] What are his powers in regard to foreign relations ? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 323 

make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and 
all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise 
provided for, and which shall be established by Law : but the Congress may by 
Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the 
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

[3] The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen 
during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the 
End of their next Session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the Stat 
of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with 
Respect to the time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall 
think proper ; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers ; he shall take 
Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the officers of 
the United States. 

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, 
shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, 
Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

[THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.] 

Section i. The Judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme 
Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their 
Offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their Services, a 
Compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in Office. 

Section 2. ['] The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, 
arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under their Authority ;— to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, 
other public Ministers and Consuls; — to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Juris- 



[3] What can he do with vacant offices ? 

Sec. 3. With what is he expected to furnish Congress? What other duties is 
he expected to perform ? 

Sec. 4. On what grounds can the government officers be removed ? 

Art. III. Sec. 1. In whom is the judicial power of the United States vested, and 
for how long a period ? 

Sec. 2. [' ] To what cases does this judicial power extend ? 



324 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

diction ;— to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party ;— to Contro- 
versies between two or more States ;— between a State and Citizens of another State ; 
—between Citizens of different States,— between Citizens of the same State claiming 
Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, 
and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

[-] In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and 
those in which a State shall be Parly, the supreme Court shall have original Juris- 
diction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have 
appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under 
such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 

[3] The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury ; 
and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been com- 
mitted ; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place 
or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section 3. ['] Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying 
War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort, 
No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Wit- 
nesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

[2] The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no 
Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during 
the Life of the Person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

[MISCELLANEOUS.] 

Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, 
Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by 
general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings 
shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section 2. ['] The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Im- 
munities of Citizens in the several States. 

[2] A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who 
shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the exec- 



[2] In what cases has it original jurisdiction ? What is meant by appellate juris- 
diction? Ans. Jurisdiction over cases appealed from a lower court. 
[3J How are crimes tried, and where ? 
Sec. 3. [1] In what does treason consist ? 
[2] Who declares the punishment? 

Art. IV. Sec. i. What provisions are contained in this section ? 
Sec. 2. [1] To what privileges are the citizens of each State entitled ? 
[2] What provision is made for criminals who have fled from one State to another ? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 325 

utive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to 
the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

\}\ No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be 
discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the 
Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. 

Section 3. ['] New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no 
new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor 
any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, 
without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the 
Congress. 

[2J The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and 
Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United 
States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any 
Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Re- 
publican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion, 
and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature 
cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall 
propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures 
of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amend- 
ments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of 
this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
Stales, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of 
Ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; Provided that no Amendment which 
may be made prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any 
Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article ; 
and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the 
Senate. 

ARTICLE VL 

['] All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of 



[3] What regulation is made for the protection of employees ? 
Sec. 3. ['] How may new States be admitted ? 

[2] What body has power to dispose of and regulate property belonging to the 
United States ? 
Sec. 4. What is guaranteed to every State ? 

Art. V. In what way are amendments to the Constitution proposed and made ? 
Art. VI. ['J What debts does the Constitution recognize? 
14* 



326 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution^ 
as under the Confederation. 

[2] This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in 
Pursuance thereof ; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority 
of the United States shall be the Supreme Law of the Land ; and the Jude^es in ever, 
State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State 
to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

[3] The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the 
several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United 
States, and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Afifirmation, to support 
this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to 
any Office or public Trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of Nine States, shall be sufficient for the 
Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seven- 
teenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and Eighty-seven and of the Independence of the United States of America 
the Twelfth. In Witikcss whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, 

G° WASHINGTON— 
Presidt and deputy froin I 'i7ginia 



NEW H.A.MPSHIRE. 

John Langdon 
Nicholas Oilman 



NEW YORK. 

Alexander Hamilton 

NEW JERSEY. 

Wil Livingston 
Wm Paterson 
David Brearley 
Jor.a Dayton 

PENNSYLV.'\NIA. 

B Franklin 
Robt Morris 
Tho Fitzsimons 
Tames Wilson 
Thomas Mifflin 
Geo Clymer 
Jared Ingersoll 



MASSACHUSETTS. 

Nathaniel Gorham 
Rufus King 
Gouv Morris 



DEL.\WARE. 

Geo Read 

John Dickinson 

Jaco Broom 

Gunning Bedford, Jun'r 

Richard Bassett 



MARYLAND. 

James M' Henry 

Danl Carrol 

Dan of St Thos Jenifer 



VIRGINIA. 

John Blair 



Attest : 



CONNECTICUT. 

Wm Saml Johnson 
Roger Sherman 
James Madison, Jr 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

Wm Blount 
Hu Williamson 
Richard Dobbs Spaight, 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 

J Rutledge 
Charles Pinckney 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
Pierce Butler 



GEORGI.\. 

William Few 
Abr Baldwin 

William Jackson, Secretary. 



[2] What is the supreme law of the land ? 

[3] Who are bound by oath to support the Constitution ? 

Art. VII. How many States were requisite for the ratification of the Constitution ? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 



327 



The Constitution having been reported to Congress on the 17th September, 1787, 
was " submitted to a Convention of Delegates chosen in each State by the people 
thereof," and was ratified by the Conventions of the several States as follows: 



By Delaware, 
Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey, 
Georgia, 
Connecticut, 
Massachusetts, 
Maryland, 
South Carolina, 
New Hampshire, 
Virginia, 
New York, 
North Carolina, 
Rhode Island, 



on the 7th December, 
on the 12th December, 
on the 1 8th December, 
on the 2d January, 
on the 9th January, 
on the 6th February, 
on the 28th April, 
on the 23d May, 
on the 2ist June, 
on the 26th June, 
on the 26th July, 
on the 2 1 St November, 
on the QQth May, 



1787 
1787. 
1787 



1788 



1789. 
1790. 



328 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ARTICLES 

IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA. 

Proposed by Congress, and ratified bif the Legislatures of the several States, 
pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution. 

(ARTICLE I.) 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting 
the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a re- 
dress of grievances. 

(ARTICLE II.) 
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right 
of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

(ARTICLE III.) 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of 
the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

(ARTICLE IV.) 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, 
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants 
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particu- 
larly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. 



AMENDMENTS.— Art. i.— What privileges are allowed the people in this article ? 

Art. II. — What is the law regarding the militia ? 

Art. III. — What is the law for the quartering of soldiers ? 

Art. IV.— What rights are secured in this article ? 



THE CONSTITUTION. 329 

(ARTICLE V.) 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, un- 
less on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the 
land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public 
danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeop- 
ardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness 
against hirr.s^lf, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensa- 
tion. 

(ARTICLE VI.) 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and pub- 
lic trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have 
been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to 
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation : to be confronted with the 
witnesses against him ; to havo Compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his 
favour, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. 

(ARTICLE VII.) 
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dol- 
lars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be 
otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules 
of the common law. 

(ARTICLE VIII.) 
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and un- 
usual punishments inflicted. 

(ARTICLE IX.) 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

(ARTICLE X.)* 
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited 
by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. 



* The first ten amendments were proposed at the first session of the first Congress 
(1789), and declared adopted in 1791. 



Art. V. — What protection is given to life and property ? 

Art. VI. — What is the law respecting criminal prosecutions? 

Art. VII.— What provision is contained in this article? 

Art. VIII — What protection to persons and property is given in Article VIIT.? 

Art. IX. — Does the Constitution interfere with private rights' 

Art. X.— What powers are delegated to the States and people > 



330 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

(ARTICLE XI.)* 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any 
suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 

(ARTICLE XII.)t 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President 
and Vice President, one of whom at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
state with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as Pres- 
ident, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall 
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for 
as Vice President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign 
and certify, and transfer sealed to the seat of the government of the United Stales 
directed to the President of the Senate j— The President of the Senate shall, in pres- 
ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the 
votes shall then be counted ; — The person having- the greatest number of votes for 
President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number 
of Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons 
having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as 
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the 
representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall con- 
sist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the 
states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not 
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as President, 
as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.— The 
person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice 
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, 
and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the 
Senate shall choose the Vice President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of 
two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number 
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. 



* The eleventh amendment was proposed at the first session of the third Congress 
(i794\ and declared adopted in 1798. 

t This article is substituted for Clause 3, Sec. I., Art. H., page 317. and annuls it. It 
was declared adopted in 1804. 



Art. XI— What limit is prescribed to the judicial power? 

Art Xn.— Give the mode of electing president and vice-president. 



THE CONSTITUTION. 3^1 

(ARTICLE XIII.)* 

Section I.— Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for 
crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United 
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. II.— Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
iation. 

(ARTICLE XIV.)t 

Section I.— All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to 
the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein 
tiicy reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privi- 
leges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any state deprive any 
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny any person 
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sec. II.— Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according 
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, 
excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
cnoice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, representa- 
tives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the 
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being 21 years 
of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for partici- 
pation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced 
in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state. 

Sec. III.— Xo person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector 
of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the 
United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member 
of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state Legis- 
lature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution 
of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same 
or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two- 
thirds of each house, remove such disability. 



* The thirteenth amendment was proposed at the second session of the thirty- 
eighth Con;?rcss (1865), and declared adopted in 1865. 

t The fourteenth amendment was first proposed at the first session of the thirty-, 
ninth Congress, 1866, and declared adopted in 1868. 

Akt. XIII., Sec. I.— What provision is made against sJavery ? 

Sec. 2 —By what means can this law be enforced ? 

Art. XIV. Sec. i.— Who are citizens of the United States? 

Sec. 2. — How are representatives apportioned ? 

Sec. 3. —What arc some of the disqualifications for office ? 



332 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Sec. IV.— The validity of the pubHc debt of the United States, authoriied by law, 
"^including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in sup- 
pressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of 
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or eman- 
cipation of any slave ; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal 
and void. 

Sec. v.— The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, 
the provisions of this article. 

(ARTICLE XV.)* 

Sectio.m I.— The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied 
or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or pre- 
vious condition of servitude. 

Sec. II. — The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 



* The fifteenth amendment was proposed at the second session of the fortieth tioa 
grcss, in 1869, and declared adopted in 187c. 



Sec. 4.— What is said of the public debt ? 
Sec. 5. — Who has power to enforce these provisions ? 
Art. XV. Sec. i. — What is said of the right of suffrage? 
Sec, 2.— By whom may this article be enforced ? 



